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Electric Neon Clock Co. Bubble Clocks |
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These are also referred to as a "Kolex" or a "bubble" clock, but I don't know if either was the company name for this style. For a simple design, there's quite a variety of styles here. There's three basic styles, two styles of marquees, and there's two numbering schemes on the faces (three if you count the early "ridge" face, well, four if you count the thermometer).
These clocks were manufactured primarily in the 1950's. They have the classic "hammertone" paint finish on the cans, in either silver, blue, or green. Some had round feet, some had straight feet, and some were footless. (note: they all had hands). Marquees came in two styles, the flat marquee like found on the Aztec clocks, and the plexiglass back-painted marquee that allowed the neon light to show through. These clock have a great "glow".
Click on the Photo to see a larger image
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This style appears to be the earliest of the "bubble" clocks. It's only about 20'' across, as opposed to the larger 26'' models. The plastic "bubble" is ridged on this model. | ||
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Here's another ridge clock, lit up. It was stated that this is the original neon. I think it would be better in blue or green, but then I always like the softer argon colors. | ||
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This clock is the more traditional bubble clock. Note that this clock has a "square" three, rather than a "round" three as found on the other face "font". My builder noticed my clocks when I was moving into my new house. He said "I have an old light-up clock, maybe you can fix it." I was floored when he brought me this clock from his father's supermarket. | ||
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Another "square three" face. The clocks with square threes always had green and pink neon. Dave A. did the reverse paint lettering on this plexiglass marquee. I think the white letters with black background provide a better look. | ||
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The square threes were the most common. This one has the flat marquee from the Aztec style, although these didn't have the wooden letter mount. This marquee has been painted red, although it would have originally been hand-lettered. | ||
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OK, here's the "rounded three" face font. The color is bad on this shot, but the "rounded three" clocks had an orange neon on the outer ring, rather than pink, and the traditional green inner ring. | ||
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Check out this wasted bubble thermometer. It's unfortunate that I don't have a better shot of this style. I've actually seen two others, but don't have photos. The thermometers have a different "can" structure... the can only rises about a quarter of the way up from the bottom, the rest of the back is flat. This was done to keep the transformer heat from giving an invalid thermometer reading. | ||
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Click here to see other examples in the Electric Neon Clock Company Gallery |
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