Landmarks Preservation Commission August 25, 1981, Designation List 14 7 LP-1174 SIDEWALK CLOCK, 30-78 Steinway Street, Borough of Queens. Landmark Site: The portion of the sidewalk on which the described improvement is situated adjacent to Borough of Queens Tax Map Block 660, Lot 81. On May 13, 1980, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Sidewalk Clock, 30-78 Steinway Street and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 46). The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. Four witnesses spoke in favor of designation. There were no speakers in opposition to designation. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS One of the most important and essential parts of New York's historical fabric is its "street furniture" -- :harnp posts, street clocks, sign posts, and benches that enhance and maintain the intimacy and scale of neighborhood blocks. Perhaps the most striking of these street amenities are the oversize cast-iron post or sidewalk clocks that prom!ly dominate city sidewalks. These clocks proliferated in American cities well after the turn of the twentieth century but many have since fallen prey to automobile accidents and sidewalk ordinances. Only a few exist in New York-today, one of which is the No. 30-78 Steinway Street clock in Queens. Introduced in the 1860s, cast-iron street clocks were popular both as everyday conveniences and as novel advertising devices. A small business concern that stayed in the same location year after year would buy a street clock and install it directly in front of the store, often painting the name of the business onto the clock face. When the business owners moved, they usually took their clocks with them. Readily available from catalogues for about 600 dollars, street clocks were manufactured by several clock companies. At the forefront in the East were the Seth Thomas Company and the E. Howard Clock Company. Seth Thomas (1785-1859), whoestablished the Seth Thomas Clock Company in 1861, was one of America's pioneer clock manufacturers. Edward Howard (1813-1904), who founded the E. Howard Clock & Watch Company in 1861, developed an extremely successful clock business in Massa chusetts, with a New York office located at 532 Broadway. Howard with his partner Aaron L. Dennison created the first mass-produced pocket watch, and marketed banjo clocks, figure eight clocks, grandfather, wall, and tower clocks, all of his own design. The E. Howard Clock Company, which manufactured the clocks at No. 1501 Third Avenue and No. 783 Fifth Avenue, produced sidewalk clocks as late as 1964. The company started to manufacture the street clocks around 1870 and at one time had a patent on them. Street clocks were operated by a mechanism based on a weight calculated according to the number of feet needed for its fall. The wei ght was wound up into its highest position and would run for about eight days. Later the clocks were mechanized and operated from master clocks inside the building, and had secondary movements. Measuring about fifteen feet from the sidewalk to the center of the dial, the clocks were larger than human scale, handsome eye catchers, and effective advertising devices. Designed with two or four faces, the clocks conformed to a basic composition, with the large round faces mounted on classical columns and bases.

-2- Four of the city's extant clocks, all of which are the two-face variety, stand in Manhattan. -- Three of New York's clocks are located in Queens. The Wagners Jewelers Clock at No. 30-78 Steinway Street was erected by that concern in 1922 and has a typical beveled base and fluted column topped by scrolls, supporting a double faced dial. It is crowned by a contemporary sign. The clock was purchased second hand by Edward Wagner, owner of the store, and transported from Manhattan to its present location in Queens. These handsome cast-iron street clocks of New York represent an incre

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