True Horology - The National Watch and Clock Museum

In November I made the pilgrimage to Lancaster PA to visit the birthplace of Hamilton watches. While there I took the opportunity to visit the newly opened Hamilton boutique and to tour the RGM Watch Co. located just down the road in Mount Joy.  You can read about those expeditions here and here.

This post will cover a third item that should be on the checklist of visitors to the area. Students of horology must set aside a day for the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbus Pa. The museum’s holdings are surprisingly diverse, deep and do an excellent job of highlighting both the technical and social aspects of mechanical time keeping from its first inception to the current day.  If there is some obscure aspect of horology that interests you, it is more than likely that this museum will have a collection dedicated just to that.  If your interests happen to be cased clocks or pocket watches…just go ahead and clear your afternoon. 

Scheduling the right time to visit can be a bit tricky as the Museum’s normal operating hours are 10-4pm on Wednesday through Saturday only. Please take this into account when setting up your itinerary.  Admission is $12.

The structure itself is surprisingly spacious and elegant.  The main building is done in a neoclassical style and features a striking domed skylight when you first enter the building. Standing in this central atrium you can see that there are two floors.The second is reserved for the administrative offices of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors.  Directly ahead you will see a set of doors leading to an extensive research library that is available to scholars and members of the Association by appointment. On the right there is a theater for presentations and educational programs. But the real action begins when walking through the doors to your left. That is the museum proper.

As I mentioned before, the museum’s exhibits are diverse and comprehensive. I am not sure what I expected, but the overall impression I got was of a museum that was well funded and keeping their displays up to date.  

It would be too much to review each collection, but I would like to point out some personal highlights. I was particularly impressed by their display of tower clocks. That had never really been much of a personal interest before, but it is now.  The development of cased clocks is also reviewed in some detail before moving into the advent of pocket and wrist watches. Special displays focused on topics like innovation in manufacturing techniques, advertising, problems in railroad time keeping, details of dial construction and the development of marine chronometers abound. I was especially impressed with their discussion on traditional Asian horology, a topic that I never expected to see discussed in this degree of detail in a museum outside of Japan or China.

Still, my favorite display had to be a painstaking reconstruction of a 19th century jewelry store selling various clocks and pocket watches. The entire museum has an immersive quality, but it was actually easy to forget where you were as you browsed the 100 year old display cases in this “shop.” 

Also impressive was the gallery dedicated to Hamilton’s history in the area, much of which focused on the specialized time pieces and instruments that were produced during WWII. 

My only disappointment with the museum was that I did not set aside enough time.  I had a full schedule and arrived about an hour before closing.  That is exactly enough time to walk from the entrance of the museum to the exit if you stop to take in the highlights but don’t really study anything in detail. In my estimation it would take at least twice that to really absorb what the displays had to offer.  And if you were doing research on a specific topic you should just plan on being there all afternoon, especially if you are working in the archives.  The collections are vast and only a small percentage of their holdings are currently on display.

Fortunately there is another option for those of us who cannot travel to Columbus regularly.  Be sure to check out of the Museums Youtube page as well as its webpage. Here you will find a generous helping of its digital archives including vintage films, podcasts, classes and lectures.

It is no secret that this can be an expensive hobby.  Too often our interest is solely in the acquisition of horology rather than its study. Resources like the National Watch and Clock Museum are the antidote to this.  Whereas modern advertising only instills a sense of insecurity, these resources remind us of what the hobby has to offer in terms of understanding society’s journey with, and through, time.  Membership in the NAWCC supports this mission and opens new doorways for understanding our shared passion.  If you are going to be in the Lancaster PA area, be sure to set aside a day for their museum.