Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Town in Ohio Named After a Clock

There is an Ansonia, Ohio which was named for an Ansonia clock that hung on the wall in the post office.

Back in the 1800's there were two villages in Ohio that were called Dallas. This created a lot of problems for the postal service. So the postmaster of Dallas in Darke County was trying to come up with another name of the village. As he wound the clock in the post office he noticed "Ansonia" printed on the dial. He suggested Dallas be changed to Ansonia, ending the postmaster's problem. The clock still hangs on the wall.

Ansonia, Ohio's clock also had a bullet hole in it. The story goes that one day a dog wandered in the p.o. and fell asleep under a table. When the p.o closed, the dog was not noticed. Several hours later the postmaster returned and heard noises inside. The postmaster got armed help and upon opening the door, shouted "Don't move or I'll shoot". The dog started moving around and after 3 bullets were fired, they found one went through the face of the clock. The incident happened on April Fool's Day and the local newspaper ran a poem the next day entitled "He shot the clock when its hands was up!" The poem was published every April Fool's Day for many years after. http://www.ansoniaohio.us/


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Clocks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I have been to New York City many times and love the city. I love the hustle bustle of the city and its true, "the city never sleeps". There is so much to see and do. I always get to a Broadway show and do a lot of walking. On all my trips I just never had enough time to see the museums. On my last visit a couple years ago I did finally make it to the Guggenheim Museum. The building appears to be artwork itself and is an architectural marvel to me. I saw works of art by Lautrec, Monet, Picasso and Chazan.

I have always wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I came across some information that back in 1954(the year I was born) the museum opened a gallery devoted to Horology. It was the largest concentrated group of watches and clocks at that time for any major American Museum. Based on the museum's website it does not sound like they still have the collection in one central place. It appears the clocks are now placed throughout the museum.


This will be a must see on my next trip to New York City.
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/206322