The assets of the bankrupt Columbus Watch Company of Columbus, Ohio, were purchased by two brothers from South Bend, Indiana, in 1903. The brothers were sons of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company co-founder Clement Studebaker. Clement Jr. was named president of the newly formed South Bend Watch Company. Along with George, Studebaker built a new factory in South Bend, Indiana, and hired 145 former Columbus employees, along with watchmaker Walter Cross Shelton, Sr., from the Appleton Watch Company in Wisconsin. The factory was outfitted with mass production machinery, the workers were retrained, and in 1905 production began.
Several styles of pocket watches were manufactured and sold at prices ranging from $16 to $125. The watches were well received and the company was a success. Watch production was interrupted during World War I, when the company was contracted by the government to build gun sights. By the time watch production resumed in 1918, the market had changed, with the wristwatch rapidly gaining popularity over the pocket watch. Regardless, the South Bend Watch Company prospered through the 1920s.
The company introduced the Studebaker Watch, identical to the South Bend except for the name. It was sold by mail order and represented as being from the Studebaker Watch Company. Advertisements included the tagline "Directed by members of the Studebaker family – known for three-quarters of a century for fair dealing."[citation needed]
By 1929, the South Bend Watch Company had 300 employees and had produced nearly a million watches. The Studebaker line was sold on credit, requiring only one dollar down. When the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, the company found itself with more delinquent accounts than it could handle. On November 27, 1929, the plant was closed. Employees were told it would remain closed until January 1, 1930. The plant never reopened.
Liquidation was completed in 1933. Some 35,000 watches were in production when the factory closed. Shelton, along with two other employees, completed the assembly of those watches and sold them. Shelton continued to operate the company's service department until his retirement in 1954 effectively ended the South Bend Watch Company story. The factory building, which had been used by a number of businesses over the years (including Kay Line Industries, a furniture manufacturer) was destroyed by fire in 1957.
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March 14, 2024
south, bend, watch, company, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, art. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources South Bend Watch Company news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations January 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The South Bend Watch Company a manufacturing company of pocket watches was based in South Bend Indiana Contents 1 History 2 Notes 3 References 4 External linksHistory editThe assets of the bankrupt Columbus Watch Company of Columbus Ohio were purchased by two brothers from South Bend Indiana in 1903 The brothers were sons of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company co founder Clement Studebaker Clement Jr was named president of the newly formed South Bend Watch Company Along with George Studebaker built a new factory in South Bend Indiana and hired 145 former Columbus employees along with watchmaker Walter Cross Shelton Sr from the Appleton Watch Company in Wisconsin The factory was outfitted with mass production machinery the workers were retrained and in 1905 production began Several styles of pocket watches were manufactured and sold at prices ranging from 16 to 125 The watches were well received and the company was a success Watch production was interrupted during World War I when the company was contracted by the government to build gun sights By the time watch production resumed in 1918 the market had changed with the wristwatch rapidly gaining popularity over the pocket watch Regardless the South Bend Watch Company prospered through the 1920s The company introduced the Studebaker Watch identical to the South Bend except for the name It was sold by mail order and represented as being from the Studebaker Watch Company Advertisements included the tagline Directed by members of the Studebaker family known for three quarters of a century for fair dealing citation needed By 1929 the South Bend Watch Company had 300 employees and had produced nearly a million watches The Studebaker line was sold on credit requiring only one dollar down When the stock market crashed on October 29 1929 the company found itself with more delinquent accounts than it could handle On November 27 1929 the plant was closed Employees were told it would remain closed until January 1 1930 The plant never reopened Liquidation was completed in 1933 Some 35 000 watches were in production when the factory closed Shelton along with two other employees completed the assembly of those watches and sold them Shelton continued to operate the company s service department until his retirement in 1954 effectively ended the South Bend Watch Company story The factory building which had been used by a number of businesses over the years including Kay Line Industries a furniture manufacturer was destroyed by fire in 1957 Notes editReferences editStudebakerHistory com South Bend Watch Company South Bend Watch CompanyExternal links editStudebakerHistory com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title South Bend Watch Company amp oldid 1084384035, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
