Hampden (Dueber) Watch Company Production Dates by Serial Number Table. This identical watch, serial number 101, was sold at auction in New York in 1988 for $12,000. In 1874, the company officially changed their name to the Elgin National Watch Company, and that name remained until they stopped producing watches in the 1960's.
The Dueber Watch Case Company was an important employer in Canton, Ohio during the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
Dueber Pocket Watch Case Serial Number Lookup
In 1864, John Dueber founded the Dueber Watch Case Company in Newport, Kentucky. This firm manufactured cases that held the internal workings of watches. The Dueber Watch Case Company provided the casings to watch manufacturers, including the Hampden Watch Company, which was located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Hampden Watch Company's product so impressed Dueber that in 1886 he purchased a controlling interest in this company. In 1888 Dueber relocated the Dueber Watch Case Company from Newport and the Hampden Watch Company from Springfield to Canton, Ohio. In this new location, the two companies shared manufacturing facilities. The Dueber Watch Case Company produced the cases for the watches that the Hampden Watch Company manufactured. In 1923, the two companies formally united together, becoming known as the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company.
The Dueber Watch Case Company and the Hampden Watch Company quickly became two of Canton's largest employers. In 1888, the companies' first year in Canton, the firms employed 2,300 Canton residents. In 1890, Canton's population was 26,337 people. Thanks to these two companies, Canton became an important center for watch manufacturing in the United States of America. Unfortunately for Canton residents, in 1927 the company went bankrupt, finally ceasing operations in the city in 1930. The machinery and tools were sold to the Amtorg Trading Corporation, one of Soviet Russia’s buying agencies in the US, for $329.000. 23 former Dueber-Hampden watchmakers, engravers and various other technicians were hired, for one year, to help train the Russian workers in the art of watch making at The First State Watch Factory, Moscow.
Broken Pocket Watch
See Also
References
- Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Henry Howe & Son, 1891.
- Garratt, Alan. Beyond Springfield and Moscow: The remarkable story of Hampden watches. 2014. Web. 2 October 2014. <www.hampdenwatches.com>.
- Gibbs, James W. The Dueber-Hampden Story. Exeter, NH : Adams Brown, 1954.
- 'The Watch Trade War.' The New York Times. 10 April 1895.