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George Potter
Walnut atreet
lankee..-formerly employed by Seth Thomas Clock Co
Mr Potter is a member of one of the oldest families in this
section of the state,cultured,well-readIdeeply interested in and thoroughly
familiar with the history of the Seth Thomas Clock Company. He has one of
the finest collections of Seth Thomas Clcks of all types in Thomaston.
He entered the company's employ in the eighties and spent 23 years as
an emrloye of the ccncern,leaving for other emp loyment and returning AI
essmagibrommeallism several times. He was last with the company in 1932.
"When I first went to work for them," he said,"t4ey did all their
truckingwith horses. They had some of the finest draft horses you
ever saw and company officialswere proud of them. I remember that during
the blizzard of '88,when it appeared that we might be snowbound in the
factory (I was working at the old movement shop at the time) they sent
the women home by horse and teamtand they all got to their homes without
mishap.
"In those days the town was experiencing a sort of boomland one of
the recurrent waves of immigration had its effect here. I remember in
particullr a young Scotchman named James Blaine who came here with his
family. He was typically gig frugal and he had left behind with relatives
a Seth Thomas clock which he had bought in Scotland. Why should I bring
one over th ere when I'm going to work for the canpany? he asked his wife.
Bit when he got here he fo Td he had to pay more for the same molel,even
with the discount allowed the help,than he had to pay in the old country.
"You spoke of superstitions a while ago and I'll tell you something
that might generally be regarded smompx as superstition but which anyone
familiar with clock movements will vouch for as gospel truth. Clocks run
faster in summer than they_do in winter,and that's due to the expansion of
metal by the heat. I've regulated them for years and -1 know. You have to
shorten up the rods and lower the pendulum an pendulum movements --a barely
mommilfteuplinempteimim perceptible degree and yet it has to be done.The compen-
sating rodon the old movements had mercury in it --was made to allow for the
d ifference in temperature without the necessity of regulation.
L,!I understand that sample during the past few years there have been
revolutionary changes in those. clock making methods. Maybe its for the best,
and yet I challmenge anyone to show me :imam- finer clocks and better
timepieces than the old Seth Thomases in my collection.
"I don't recall anything 0110NOINtic, that might be.of interest to you
in the way of anecdote except one little story that has to do with the
late William T Woodrfuff who was one president of the company.
"He was the epitome of dignity,a self-made man and extremely promaix
proud of it and with no more sense of humor than an oyster. He dammeamax
dressed timpec the part of a big executivetwas gruff in his relations
with his gubordin-tes and had nrver been known to laugh under any circum-
stances.
"I remember when this incident happened it was a helftpit holiday eve,
the day before the Fourth of July0Aximmismx I believetand perhaps the
holiday spirit had emboldened the help somewhat. It wmessix was raining,and
Mr. Woodruff carried zaderliaThairiMattrithreximilmanomirliddisilax an umbrella and
wore his rubbers. There was a hat -rack right outside the door of his office,
w hich incientallytaillft adjoined the assembling room,and it was his custom
to leave his hatlumbrella amimmorm and rubbers there.
"Well Mr Woodruff came out shortly before closing time amimumUlidemx
as was his invariable habit,grabbed his hat and umbrella and slipped his feet
into his rubbers. He started webOOMOINK walking,but the rubbers stayed behind.
Somebody had nailed them to the floor. The old man roared in his best style
and the air around there fairly crackled. But everybody looked up from time -max
work with an air of surprise and though he stood and glared at each man in
d out who did it.
turn for a few minutes he M00% couldn't fin
But he would have him if he'd caught him,for he was the kind of
man who wculdn't stand for any nonsense.
"We had only numbers for the clocks. There were 103's and 89's and
112's and so on. Only in cases where the movements were made for some other
company 41011111mw were they known to the help by names. For example,those
made for the Taylor Instrument Company were 1!1cunec called TNylors.0
:Mr.Potter related a story which he said might be illustrative of
superstition on the part of at least one clockmaker,but first exacted
my solemn promise that if it were used in print his name Amium would not
be mentioned in connection with it. It concerned an ear7,timtr_namedil
"Buddy" Keen or Kerr who kmakmdmatfterWmumRx had a fetish of some kind
tacked above his bench --iii whet'-ier it was a small statue,a doll or a
billiken he had won someplace Mr Potter 7asnIt sure —but Kerr was obsessed
with the ilea that the thing was his lucky piece. He thought it had sane
d efinite bearing on his work. Somebody stole it one day and mivnever
brought it back and Kerr became a nervous wreck. He resigned his job
a few weeks later and went elsewhere to work, though Mr.Potter says he
i s still working at his trade and has apparently forgotten t -:le incident.