Consolidated Time Lock Co., Cincinnati, Ohio - 2 movements, Harvard and Boston Clock Company movements

The Harvard/Boston cocks had a scalloped edge, decorated speed adjustment hub and often a more complex damascene surface on the entire movement, see below.

The first of two distinguishing factors that set the Harvard and Boston Clock Company movements supplied to Consolidated from E. Howard are the balance wheel and escapement wheel decorative cocks, right, which differ in shape and design from E. Howard, left. In connection with this, the outer coil hair spring is secured by a part that is mounted to the escape wheel cock in Howard's design, yellow arrow. In the Harvard/Boston configuration it is mounted to the platform base and is a better design since it allows the removal either cock independently whereas in the Howard design the hairspring mount must first be loosened from the escapement wheel cock before either can be safely removed.

The second distinguishing characteristic of the Harvard/Boston movements from the E. Howards was their greater use of surface engine turning. Even the back side is decorated which was left plain in Howard movements. They also used a 'quadrant' style for each movement where the design was divided into four squares with the design rotated by 90 degrees for each quadrant.

Consolidated time, c. 1880. Lock using a Harvard Clock Company movement as illustrated on the right hand dial. The Harvard company was founded in 1880 until 1884 when it was succeeded by the Boston Clock Company. See further discussion at the end of this page. Door #313, case #6037, movements #6037. file 351

This example is serial number 6091, only 54 numbers greater than the one pictured above at #6037. It is identical in all respects to the earlier one in construction including the components between the main movement plates, excepting the dial now shows the more conventional designation of "The Consolidated Time Lock Co." But is surely made by Harvard Clock Company.

This photo nicely illustrates the complex 'quadrant design' favored by the Harvard Clock Company, in this case it is carried even further with the insertion in the center of both movement quadrants an additional set of paired diagonal designs. Note that these are not mirrored as are the perimeter quadrants. Look at the photo above with the dialing in place and one can readily see that the full extent of this complex engine turning cannot be fully appreciated when assembled.

The design and planting of the wheel work between the movement plates is identical to those produced by E. Howard used earlier by the Hall/Consolidated company; all have the same conical collets, spoke number and design.

This complex design work is carried through to the two platform escapements which have mirrored diagonal engine turning.

The rear side, which is never seen as it is affixed to the rear, inside of the case is also beautifully decorated.

Consolidated time lock, c. 1880 using a conventional Consolidated Time Lock Company designation for the right hand dial but attributed to the Harvard Clock Company. Door #440, case #6091, movements #6091. file 71

c. 1886. An scarce example of the original glass etched with the company logo in tact and a release mechanism designed to be used on an automatic bolt motor. Joseph Hall's original firm as well as his later company, Consolidated made time locks that normally operated on the combination lock as opposed to the safe's manual or automatic bolt work; a more common approach used by other manufacturers. The cases were often decorated with geometic patterns, often referred to as guilloche, on the sides. I have never seen two locks that had a design that was exactly alike.

Note lack of any designation on the right hand dial. According to John Errol's book, those locks with the blank dial were made by the Boston Clock Company. (1) The Boston company founded in 1884 and lasting until 1894 was the successor to the Harvard Clock Company founded in 1880. Making assumptions based on Consolidated's serial numbering system is fraught with questions, see the Hall/Consolidated introduction for more information on this. But it does seem that the 6000 series was designated for the last production run of locks made based on the two movement design where both movements had separate front movement plates but were mounted to a single rear plate using carriage clock type platform escapements.

The problem with the idea that blank dialed locks were made by the Boston Clock company is this example, where it has one of the latest sequences in the 6000 series, but is clearly made by E. Howard. The platform escapements are identical to Howard's design and the engine turning reverted back to Howard's simpler wavy patterns on the front movement plates as well as the same wave pattern on the escapement platforms and no decoration on the reverse side of the rear movement plates. The internal components are all of identical type to E. Howard. This too is the case of the Harvard internal movement components. There is another example like this one with a serial number of 6427 and having all the attributes of an E. Howard movement. So once again, did Mr. Hall simply use several suppliers at the same time or was the numbering system capricious? This author has no definitive answer at this time.

The additional latching mechanism on the bottom was probably used in connection with an automatic bolt motor rather than Consolidated's usual manner of connecting directly with the fence in the combination lock. The serial number on this lock is one of the highest (later made) that I have seen at 6898; I have not seen any 7000 series until Consolidated made their design change to modular movements. Notice that there is no attribution on the right hand dial, just the serial number, I've seen this only in the twilight of the Consolidated's run of this model. 5"w x 3"h x 2 5/8. Door#859, case# 6898, movement #6898. file 123