If you frequent eBay looking for flip clocks, you've laid eyes on it - The 1950s era Tele-Vision clock. This clock, manufactured by the Pennwood Numechron Company, is actually a cyclometer type clock with rolling wheels displaying the time in digital form. This clock seems to have suffered from an identity crisis as it went by many names in the day. Firstly, the Tele-Vision clock was considered a "Numechron Tymeter" clock (a type of Pennwood Numechron Company clock) and designated as the Model No 700. And while the clock face clearly reads "TELE-VISION," on the back you will see the clock described as '"TV" MODEL.' The manufacturer also seemed unsure how to describe it, as on the original packaging you can read the descriptions "TV-Tymeter clock" on one side and "Tele-vision Lamp Clock" on the other, as well as "No. 700 TV." Can it get any better than this? Yes it can. In some advertisements, the clock was described as the "Glolite Colorama Television Lamp-Clock with Focalizer Stare-Break". Awesome.Confusion regarding the purpose of this clock continues to this day, as we will see later. And this should not be unexpected, considering that the reason for the clock's very existence rests on the public's misconceptions about television viewing around the 1950s.
The 'Background' of Television Viewing
The earliest televisions were displayed to the public in the late 1920s and by the 1930s television stations became increasingly common. But it was the decade of the 1950s that saw an explosion in the number of homes with a television as well as the birth of the Golden Age of Television with shows like "I Love Lucy", "Gunsmoke", the "$64,000 Dollar Question" and "The Ed Sullivan Show" just to name a few.
Along with the increasing popularity of television, came the belief among a good number of Americans that TV viewing was damaging to the eyes. Many opthamologists were presented with patients who were convinced that their eye problems were caused by this new technology. As you may imagine, many mothers all over the country were concerned that television would cause their children to go blind. This phenomena can be seen by widely published articles of the day, trying to reassure the public of the safety of television. In 1950 Dr. Glenn A. Fry and Dr. Arthur M. Culler, co-directors of the institute for research in vision at Ohio State University conducted a survey of eye doctors, and reported that "There is no widespread belief [among eye doctors] that television is contributing to changes in the static refraction of the eye, the status of muscle balance, or to the development of such disorders as glaucoma and cataract, or to any serious impairment of the function and structure of the eye."1
The year prior to this, Dr. Franklin M. Foote, of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness noted that "A few people are going to eye doctors complaining that watching television makes their eyes hurt, or gives them headaches. ... Some people ask whether harmful radiations come at their eyes from the television screen. But from all the facts we can learn, there's nothing to either idea."2 Foote admitted that television viewing could cause eye fatigue and advised that keeping the television room dark made "too great a contrast between the bright picture and the surroundings." He went on to recommend that television viewers should at a minimum, keep a dim light on in the room. This advice was echoed in 1952 by Dr. Ralph W Danielson, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado Medical School. Danielson asserted that he did not believe television viewing caused eye damage, but recommended that "The television room should be partly illuminated so there is not too great a contrast between the background and the screen." adding that indirect illumination was best.3 And with such medical advice as this, the TV lamp was born.
The Decade of the TV Lamp
If you are unfamiliar with TV lamps, welcome to the fascinating world of kitschy TV top adornments that served to provide that soft, indirect illumination to save the world from "television eyes." These
lamps were typically ceramic or plastic and had a night-light type bulb in the back, filtering low light to the wall behind the television. These lamps. Oh my. They came in all forms, from simple lamp styles to figurines such as cats, dogs, horses, owls, mallard ducks, - we can go on and on. For some reason a very popular form was the black panther. At this point it's worth mentioning common misconceptions these days about TV Lamps. Some collectors of TV lamps state as fact, that TV lamps existed because early TVs had a "dull luminescence", and were "best viewed in the dark." I believe that collectors of vintage items fall prey to the tendency to try to fill in the gaps - as there really it not much of a written history of such things (outside of newspaper articles and advertisements). As we now know, the lamps were designed to prevent too great a contrast between the TV and the background. The early TVs were not especially dim. This can be illustrated by an advertisement4 in 1951 for a type of special light bulbs for the television room (The "Verd-A-Ray Tee-Vee Light Bulbs" - you can't make this up). In the ad it is written that "The picture seen on your television screen is an intense direct light source that is usually 10 times as brilliant as the light from a movie screen. Thus for maximal visual comfort and protection with television, room lighting must be soft, diffused and correctly balanced. This permits the eyes to relax by unconsciously wandering from the television picture without the visual shock caused by extreme contrast."The TV Lamp Clock
As you may be starting to realize, the Tele-Vision clock was just one form of a TV Lamp. This is why the back of the clock is clear plastic - to allow a good bit of ambient light to reach the wall behind the television on which it was meant to sit. And now you may appreciate the name emblazoned on the front of the clock. It's not a "television" clock, it's a (drum roll) "tele-VISION" clock. Not only will it tell you the time in a new and exciting digital way, it's will save your family's vision. The Pennwood Numechron Company evidently thought this would be revolutionary and a long term revenue stream as they encorporated a separate division under the name "Tele-vision Clock Corporation of America." This name can be seen on the back of the clock molded into the clear plastic. Penwood Numechron made several other styles of TV lamp clocks but this Model No 700 is the most commonly encountered these days. This could be explained by the fact it was frequently given as a promotional item. A review of newspaper advertisements from throughout the 1950s show that this particular model was often given away (especially for starting a new bank account) or offered at a nominal price when buying other products.The Tele-Vision Clock - a lot of history rolled up in one little clock
So now, we maybe able to better appreciate the history wrapped up in this one little clock - a relic from the 50s that could appeal to many varieties of collectors. The Pennwood Numechron Tele-Vision clock is not only an early cyclometer, the precursor to the flip clock, it's a true TV Lamp from the 1950s, during a decade in which the public had significant fear of eye damage from this new, ubiquitous and increasingly popular invention - the Television.
References:
1. "Poll of 2,125 Doctors Upsets Theory that TV Harms Vision." Battle Creek Enquirer Sept. 28, 1950: pg 2.
2. "Eyes Safe With TV." The Baltimore Sun Feb 27, 1949: pg 64.
3. "TV Harmless to Eyes." The Kansas City Times Sept 18, 1952: pg 3.
4. "Now You Can Prevent Television Squint." (ad), The Windsor Star March 31, 1951: pg 14.
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