ALARM CLOCKS FOR BLIND and DEAF USERS

The first factory for Westclox (the Western Clock Company) outside the United States was set up in Peterborough, Ontario around 1920 to produce windup alarm clocks for the growing Canadian market.  The two major models starting in 1908 were the Big Ben (named after the largest bell at Westminster in London, England) and the slightly later, smaller Baby Ben.

TOUCH FOR THE TIME  As early as the mid 1930s the company started to modify some of the regular windup Baby Bens by leaving off the glass (and later plastic) dial cover and adding metal hour markers that could be felt with the fingers.  The quarter-hour markers were pointed cones; flat ‘nail heads’ were located at each five minute position.  Westclox called them BRAILLE alarm clocks, which were available for people with poor eyesight.  Fingers could identify the position of the minute and hour hands and their positions relative to the hour markers.  The exposed dials show the wear expected after years of use.

The museum has Braille examples for most of the Baby Ben design periods.  Pictures are shown below.  Production numbers were much lower than for the regular version, and so they are rarer to find today.  There was also a flip-cover Braille wristwatch – the CNIB may still sell these today.  Of course, modern equivalents have ‘talking time’ that is based on push button, battery-operated, voice chip circuits.

A FLASHING LIGHT TO WAKE YOU UP  There were two styles of the Westclox MOONBEAM model electric alarm clock for people whose hearing was impaired.  The first was a rounded-end, Catalin plastic case model (see below) that was produced from the late 1940s to the late 1950s.  Several dial versions were made over that time period.  Apparently butterscotch-colour cases are the most collectable today - the colour change is thought to be caused by aging of the original white / ivory Catalin plastic.

The design was modernized to a rectangular shape for the 1960s and was available with chocolate brown and ivory coloured plastic cases.  At least five different dials are known.  Note that if you slept through the several minutes of the MOONBEAM’s flashing light, a loud electric buzzer would then be sure to wake you, and everyone else, up!

The museum has had visitors who were deaf.  Several years ago a couple noted on my clipboard that they had ordered a battery-backup version of the earlier style now available from the L.L.Bean catalogue.  Other visitors have remembered using one of these silent alarm clocks when they had to get up early to go work for a very early morning shift (for example, nurses and truck drivers).  When you became familiar with it, the flashing light would wake you up but not the rest of their family.

OPTIONS TODAY  An online search in late 2018 turns up many options today for portable and bedside Braille alarm clocks, including models that will shake your bed!  And for deaf people there are wrist and bed vibrating alarm clocks.

Below are pictures of the many early examples in our museum's collection of these special function alam clocks.