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“Dong, dong, dong” the clock chimes indicating it is 3am, far too late for a child to be awake yet if it wasn’t for that incessant donging I would probably still be peacefully dreaming. This is the song that characterised the nights of my childhood.
How I loathed that clock as a child, rudely disturbing me from my adventure filled dreams of lolly lands and endless joys and how I loathe it even more when combined with the throbbing aftermath of a big night. However only recently did I discover that this clock has tormented not only myself and my sister but several generations of the Jager family.
The wooden clock which has stood atop a mantel piece in my father’s house for as far back as I remember was not simply the purchase of a chronic antique buyer but rather a family heirloom of sorts rich in history.
It is not simply a clock but rather an Ansonia Clock that sits in the dining room amongst pieces of furniture passed down through time and under the watchful eye of those who formerly owned it.
The clock was designed and built by the Ansonia Clock Company, a company established in 1850 by a wealthy industrialist, Anson C Phelps and two successful Bristol, Connecticut clock manufacturers. The clock company was established as a subsidiary company to the Ansonia Brass Company, part of the Phelps Dodge Brass Co., as a way in which to utilise the brass they were manufacturing. By the late 1930s rolled brass clock movements had virtually eliminated those made of wood and cast brass, thus Anson Phelps saw a clock company as the ideal way to maximise his earnings by profiting on the sale of the raw material and also its polished form. It is believed that the company prospered by using aggressive sales techniques believing “the more clocks made and sold, the more brass they would use.”
By the late 19th and early 20th century, after having endured numerous fires destroying factories in several cities, the Ansonia Clock Company had established itself as one of the major clock manufacturers. Ansonia clocks were seen and sold all over the world. During this time the company had a vast array, almost 450, clock designs on offer including; cabinet, carriage, crystal regulators, galley, black iron, figurine, kitchen, alarms, mantel, onyx, marble, novelty, porcelain, and china.
In the late 1880s, at the height of the Ansonia Clock Company’s fame, a young couple by the name of Detlef and Emily Jager, my great grandparents, made an exciting purchase, they bought an Ansonia clock. At the time Ansonia clocks were very popular due to the wide variety of designs at a range of prices they were a clock attainable for many. It has been said that owning an Ansonia clock would have been like having a DVD player today, every middle class family would have had one. Clocks were somewhat a fashion item for your home and, I’d imagine, a way to demonstrate one’s wealth and prestige.
Emily and Detlef’s clock was a tall mantel clock made of a combination of rose wood and walnut with a hand painted glass window. The painting on the glass is designed to slightly frame the beautiful brass swing hanging behind it. The painting itself is done with a white paint and recalls the planter destination of old in Arabic countries. The clock has two mirrored panels, one on either side of the clock which work to reflect the golden cherubs playfully perched at the edge of either side of the clock. At the top of the clock, the wooden shape of the clock comes to a point with a fan like section of detail in the centre. In front of the base of this fan is the face of a man who seems to be of mythology or ancient times. The clock face itself, sits directly below this man and at the base of the clock there is a winged cupid face style crest. The clock is marked “Anson, New York”, indicating that it was built in New York most likely in the Brooklyn factory. The Ansonia Clock Co. moved to New York from Connecticut in 1979 so this mark informs us the clock was built after this time.
Unfortunately for Emily and Detlef, whilst they lived a happy life together, enjoying the births of their children and the highs and lows of life, they were not destined to live a long life together. On December 24th, Christmas Eve, 1912 Detlef Jager died at the young age 39 years old, merely 5 years after my grandfather was born. It is now believed that he probably died of heart failure as the medical staff at the time had put leeches on him to bleed him.
At around the same time the Ansonia Clock Company was facing fierce competition to its novelty clock range and brought in a special sale of clocks at “old pricing”. The tactic was a failure and sent the company into serious debt and by the end of the 1920s the company had entered receivership, a few months before the stock market crash.
On the other side of the world, the young widowed Emily raised the children on her own with the help of family and friends. Unfortunately, Emily too did not live a healthy life and her son, my grandfather, Alan Stuart Jager (born 1907) had to decline a scholarship to Wesley College so as he could look after his ailing mother.
The clock remained with Emily after Detlef died, a reminder of the life they lived together, standing, as it always had, on the mantel piece above the fireplace. The centre of the altar at the heart of the family home.
In 1954 my grandfather, Alan Stuart Jager (aka Butterballs) returned to Melbourne from living in Brisbane after having lost his wife whilst she was giving birth to their first daughter. Unfortunately his return was brought on by the death of his mother, Emily. At this time Alan acquired the Ansonia clock from his family home, the home in which Emily and Detlef had lived in Bendigo. The clock was part of his inheritance.
The clock’s journey then saw it travel to Hartwell, a small part of Camberwell, Melbourne, where Alan lived with his new wife Alma Jager, my nanna. The clock was given a new prized spot on the mantel piece. However this house was not to be for long and the couple moved to Mt Waverley. This move was a fairly permanent and the clock was allocated a familiar position above the mantel piece but in the dining room this time, no longer a lounge room relic. From this position the clock was able to watch over the family which had yielded three children by this stage, two girls and a boy, whilst also adding an element of formality to the dining room.
At sometime in the 1950s early 60s Alan and Alma Jager decided to modernise his parents’ clock and they had the two petulant golden cherubs removed.
A little while later, at some point in the 1960s, the clock stopped. It was unknown what had caused this strange thing to happen as the clock had never stopped before or had any problems. The facts were examined and it was established that the clock stopped working after the cleaner had moved it. However, the clock was not repaired although it continued to live on the mantel piece. The ceasing of the “dong, dong, dong” that had characterised almost a century came as a welcome surprise to Alma who was a bit of a grouchy lady, a little disillusioned by life.
The family later moved to Syndal and although no longer in working condition, the clock remained on mantle piece in the dining room. After Alan, my grandfather died in 1987 the clock continued to keep my nanna company in the dining room. However, when my nanna, Alma, had a stroke and was moved into a nursing home in 1993 my father purchased some of the family furniture off her, including the clock.
After 30 years of silence, my father decided to finally have the clock repaired so as it could chime its age old chime once more. The clock man who undertook the repairs was amazed because all the clock movements were in such good condition due to the fact they hadn’t been moving for 30 or so years. He was able to return the clock to working order rather simply and he was not required to use any new parts meaning that the clock was in its original state minus a pair of cherubs. My father had not been aware there were ever cherubs on the clock until he met the clock man, who as soon as he set eyes upon the mantel clock knew that they were missing. The clock man organised new cherubs, which were surprisingly easy to obtain, to be installed where the others had formerly sat. Thus returning the clock to its original state to “dong, dong, dong”, to go on and continue to torment several more generations of Jagers long after we have all gone.
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