This entry was updated for 2019
On Friday’s Friendship Walks you stroll by the Hertzberg Clock. Cast in iron by E. Howard Clock Company of Boston, it was first installed in front of Eli Hertzberg Jewelry Company on Commerce Street in 1878. In 1910, when Commerce St. was widened, the company – and its clock – moved to the corner of St. Mary’s and Houston Streets. When Zales purchased the company in 1964, the store relocated to suburbia, leaving the clock behind. In 1982, the daughters of the Hertzberg owners donated the clock to the San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation.
The clock is unusual in that it continues to be hand wound rather than electrically driven, thought to be the last of its kind still in use. It runs purely on kinetic energy like the rocking pendulum and dangling weight system of a grandfather clock. The clockworks pictured here are in the base, photographed when they were removed for a minor refurbishment in 2008. It only requires winding once a week, but a metal fabricator who works at the nearby IBC building has taken it upon himself to wind the clock twice a week, as it is more accurate that way.
Rockin’ Around the Clock Special Program
Starting on 1 January 2020 — just in time for the Texas Trail Roundup! – the American Volkssport Association will be offering a special patch for walks that go past public clocks like this one.
This is the patch for this special program.
The fine print: A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Astronomical clocks that show astronomical information, as well as the time, can be so classified. Town clocks or Public clocks are intended to be seen and of use by the general public in town squares, plazas, city halls, courthouses, train and bus stations, parks and more. Qualifiers are 24 different AVA sanctioned events that include a public clock, clock & repair shop (if clocks are the primary business) or clock museum. Only one use of the IVV Stamp is allowed for each qualifier per year. Non qualifiers: garden sundials, no billboard advertising sign count, clocks in other museums other than a clock museum, clocks inside buildings or seen through windows do NOT qualify unless the clock or clocks are the primary focus of the building or the clock has particular special or historical significance. Make note of the style of clock and/or where the clock is located. EX: St Peter’s Church, tower or Bryan Town Square or Daily News Building, etc. Program runs from January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2022. Redeem completed books by Dec 31, 2023. Cost of book is $10. Patch is 3 X 4 “ patch depicting a variety of public clocks. Make checks to Maumee Valley Volkssporters. Order the books from POC: Faith Cataldo-Gauger, 233 W Dudley, Maumee, OH 43537 faith@toast.net 419-350-4365
