Landmarks Preservation Commission August 15, 1981, Designation List 14 7 LP-1176 SIDEWALK CLOCK, 161-llJamaica Avenue, 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 9760, Lot 87. On May 13, 1980, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Sidewalk Clock, 161-11 Jamaica Avenue and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 48). 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" -- .1amp 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 proudly 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. One of the few that existsin New York today is the clock at No. 161-11 Jamaica Avenue. 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 theit:_ 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 compapy 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 weight 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- Three of New York's clocks are located in Queens. The No. 161-11 Jamaica Avenue clock in Queens, thought to have been installed by Busch's Jewelers, is a typical double faced sidewalk clock with paneled base, fluted column post, and a splendid crowning acroteria motif. The words "Tad's Steaks" have been added in neon. These handsome cast-iron street clocks of New York represent an increasingly rare sampling of a type of street amenity that once proliferated. They are, in most cases, master pieces of cast-iron workmanship, beautifully designed, and prominent sidewalk landmarks. As an essent

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