Due to the economics of printing a specialized book like Moderne Time, I’m fairly certain there won’t be an updated “v.2” edition. The good news is that if you’d like a copy, 165 remain (as of Sept. 2020) and they’re now available from multiple sources including Amazon.

Alas, all the copies of Moderne Time that will ever exist have already been printed, but doesn’t mean there won’t be new discoveries. Will it ever end? I wonder. Here’s the latest.

Lawson Tiffany clock. Was this clock sold by Tiffany or was it an award to a member of the staff? If you know the story, please fill me in.

A Lawson Zephyr prototype (?) “Prototype” has become a catch-all for anything that hasn’t been seen before, but this clock has no model number!

And the model number is?

The mystery deepens. A couple years ago, a Zephyr without the speed lines was offered on eBay. This one came on a base with a plastic playing card holder and had a metal plate stamped “1” (It also had what looked like a dent to me, but who can say.) A deal to buy this clock fell through so it’s story and present whereabouts remain unknown.

Just when I thought a Zephyr minus the lines was probably made by someone else, another turned up! This one came without feet or holes for feet, and a rough looking base. And no model number. Without a number, it would appear this was a sample or a display model of some sort. As for the base, my guess is the original was damaged or lost, not a unique occurrence as you’ll see when we get to the #312, later.

The front of the clock shown above. It’s stamped “MODEL No.” but there isn’t one.

On the one hand, this base does not look like Lawson workmanship. On the other, this clock has no holes for feet, so some kind of base was required.

Oh–at about the same time the line-less Zephyr turned up, photo of the clock with the cigarette holder surfaced in an auction for a rare catalog from Lawson Time, Pasadena. The auction also included some 8×10 product shots. One was of the line-less Zephyr with the playing card box. So the dented version was a genuine Lawson creation.

Another photo showed what looked like a pyramid-shaped vertical clock. It looked great! But then I realized the auction photo was taken at an angle, so I gave it tug in Photoshop and you’ll see it’s just an ordinary, ridiculously uncommon Lawson Highboy.

Oh well, just an ordinary run of the mill Highboy clock. (There could be as many as a half dozen in existence so I’m joking here.)

A Lawson Zephyr bargain. Our next Zephyr is spectacular for a very different reason. I won’t tell you what this desk set cost but it certainly ranks among the greatest Lawson buys ever (BTW, none of the clocks pictured belong to me.) This set was made by the Evans company of Attleboro, Massachusetts who made lots of lighters and desk items into the 1970s. Their lighter design ran afoul of Ronson, and this generated enough news that I was able to learn about Evans with one click.

Now for something completely different. If you’ve read Moderne Time, you know Lawson movements were sometimes used in other brands of clocks. With the exception of the Smith Metal Arts clocks (aka Silver Crest, Moon Crest, SMA) these “non-Lawsons” tended to be simpler and no doubt less expensive. Some Lawson mechanisms were used in personal hobby projects.

Except for the red seconds wheel, this looks like a regular Arlington, but…

The construction is entirely different

Among other things, the inverted “L” brackets that hold the glass are thin strips just wrap around.

Cord, which certainly looks original, exits from the center, not the left. There are numerous small differences but it’s an impressive piece of work.

60-cycles, that’s easy. But is it Acco, American Clock Company?

First, I’ll tell you what this clock isn’t. Despite the obvious resemblance to the classic Lawson Arlington, nothing about this clock is quite the same. Well, maybe the glass blocks. Nor is it a Pennwood clock, despite using a Pennwood mechanism. But it is a very intricate piece of work, so much so that you have to ask, who did this and why? The only marking, besides 60-cycle operation is the Acco label. I’ve seen this before and it might be American Clock Corporation which was a big clock repair business in downtown Los Angeles. But I’m stumped. Pure speculation, but with the war creating shortages, could it be that Lawson Arlington was unavailable?

Lawson’s “Bullet”. I’ve never quite understood the “bullet” designation given to radios with this shape, but the ultra-rare Lawson 312 looks like a small Fada bullet radio. The only other 312 I’m aware of sold some years ago and had no base:

This recent one, on the other hand, has a base, but those of us who’ve seen it agree the way the clock hangs over the edge is a bit odd.  That said, having examined photos of the underside of the base, it appears absolutely genuine so we’ll have to conclude this was the clock was designed.

A super example with the original, very dark “copper/bronze” finish.

Obviously this was not designed to have feet.

Harold B. Lawson’s gold Zephyr. One of the real pleasures of this self-assigned project is meeting people  interested in the story and in some cases, part of it. Earlier this year, I was contacted by Joseph Lawson, whose father Harold, founded Lawson Time. Joe recently turned 90 (Happy Birthday!) and although he was not involved with Lawson’s clock business, he inherited his father’s gold Arlington clock; the only gold plated Lawson in existance. Here it is, complete with its original wood base and Lawson Clocks Limited tag.

But there was more. Despite having researched and written about Lawson Time, I had never come across a picture of the founder. Here is Harold Bernard Lawson. Thanks, Joe!

Buy Moderne Time from: Amazon or eBay or from me.