Medina's FIRST clock, the "Monitor".
Posted by: 
davmllr
N 43° 13.146 W 078° 23.712
17T E 711561 N 4788440
This historical marker is placed at the home of D.A.A. Buck in Medina, NY
Waymark Code: WM36Z4
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 02/20/2008
Views: 15
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 and at the website link listed below.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1903
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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