D.A.A. Buck Home
Posted by: davmllr
N 43° 13.146 W 078° 23.712
17T E 711561 N 4788440
D.A.A. Buck, the inventor of the Waterbury watch and builder of the world's smallest steam engine, lived in this home.
Waymark Code: WM366Y
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 02/17/2008
Views: 43
1840-1904
D.A.A. Buck Home
Inventor of the Waterbury watch and builder of the smallest steam engine in the world. Invented Medina's first clock, the "Monitor".
The great Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876 celebratied the one hundredth anniversary of the declaration of American Independence. Exhibition visitors could view a huge steam-engine and, in a glass case near by, a tiny engine—so tiny that it could be completely covered by a small thimble. This midget steam engine, with its boiler, governor, and pumps, was just as complete in all of its parts as was the big engine. Three drops of water would fill its boiler. It was a striking example of mechanical skill and fineness of workmanship, for it had been made under a watchmaker's microscope with jeweler's tools by an obscure and humble watch repairer,D.A.A. Buck.
Prior to 1880 Waltham, Elgin and other companies manufactured watches that were out of the reach of most people. In 1880 the Waterbury Watch Company of Waterbury, Conn. was created to produce a cheap watch. The watch D. A. A. Buck designed was the simplest of watches. All of the parts including screws, added up to only fifty-eight parts. The Waterbury watch was a huge success at first, and then sales fell off dramatically. The problem was a product of the company's success. Because the watches were so inexpensive, they were given away as premiums with suits of clothing and other items, often of inferior quality so the watch came to be associated in the public mind with shoddy workmanship.Also people stopped buying the watches because they could get them for free. To counter this, the Waterbury name was abandoned and the company reorganized as the New England Watch Company.
More detail can be found in the book "Time Telling Through the Ages" By Harry Chase Brearley
Marker Name: D.A.A. Buck Home
Marker Type: Roadside
Agency: Medina Historical Society
Dedication Date: -9223372036854775808
City/Town/Village Name: Medina
County: Orleans
Region: Niagara Frontier (Region 2)
Website: [Web Link]
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