![]() Another new product line was the Hospital Signal Systems, first developed in the late 1920s. Herb worked full-time for many years on this line, traveling around the country, working with company salesmen on selling this concept, retiring as vice-president, in charge of advertising in 1956. Herb Blake, who started with the company in the twenties, developed this product line. The laboratory panel line was started in 1926. During the twenties and thirties, the company began to expand their product line. Loyal friends gave financial support to the company during this crucial period. ![]() Standard Electric Time was no exception, suffering from financial difficulties during the early thirties. The Depression years were severe for many companies, small and large. Riggs with a very young son, and a growing company. Riggs died in December 1928, leaving Mrs. A son, George, their only child was born February 22, 1928. She became a member of the board of directors in 1924, and was elected its secretary in 1925. Frances married George Riggs, owner and president of Standard Electric Time in 1923. Frances Wakefield joined the company as a receptionist, in 1916, after graduating from the High School of Commerce. The one individual who probably had the most influence in the company, and its employees was Mrs. A master clock on the eighth floor controlled the mechanism, powered by electricity, all for $10,000. The glass weighed four tons, and was seven-eighths of an inch thick. The four faces of the clock were each twenty-two feet in diameter. Standard Electric Time installed a clock in Vancouver, Canada, in 1913, in the largest clock tower in Canada. One of the early catalogs produced by Standard Electric Time, on its last page, features a reproduction of the Medal of Honor award, presented to the company at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, for their electric clock systems. If you have one, treasure it! One of the early Springfield customers of Standard Electric Time was the Hotel Kimball, who proudly boasted at its opening, in 1911, that all the clocks in the hotel were furnished and installed by Standard Electric Time Company. I have seen several of the beautiful old Master and Secondary clocks that have been refinished and restored to their original condition, and are now considered collectors' items. Standard Electric had its own kiln for drying the lumber and, as well, manufactured their own glue. The plant was located on a rail siding, the Highland Brand, still in operation, for deliveries of car loads of wood, including oak, birch and mahogany. ![]() The secondary clocks came in both round and square wooden cases, made from many different kinds of wood. These handsome timepieces came in a variety of sizes, forms and finishes. The secondary room clocks were not affected by moisture, temperature or vibration, and were foolproof, requiring little or no attention. How often we students looked at the clock on the wall, always placed high enough to be out of the range of those of who might have been tempted to accelerate its progress. It was wound electrically, eliminating the need for hand-winding. ![]() ![]() The master clock was located in, or near, the principal's office, and all classroom clocks were set by the master clock. Most of us attended schools employing this system. The secondary clocks could be located in any number of rooms, and were all electrically controlled by the master clock. The system consisted of a master clock located in a central location. Standard Electric Time developed its early fame as a manufacturer and installer of electric time systems for public buildings, private industry, schools and other institutions, where time control was essential. ![]()
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