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This one is a bit of a mystery – a Luxbeam Junior, made by the Lux Clock Company of Waterbury, Connecticut. The company was founded in 1914 by Paul and Caroline Lux, with their sons Fred and Herman, initially just making clock movements. The company grew rapidly, rebuilding after a devastating fire with the help of family and friends, and expanding across the 1920s and 1930s into larger and larger premises. In the 1930s they were producing 3000 clocks a day. During World War II the company moved to war production, but when they returned to clockmaking they continued on their upward trajectory, opening new factories in Tennessee and Canada. Eventually the company was bought up in the early 1960s. They produced a great many novelty clocks that have become highly collectable and – ironically, considering how many were produced and how cheap they were at the time – extremely valuable. Lux did produce a small range of automobile clocks and this one, with its deep cylindrical barrel, side screws and lack of alarm mechanism, does resemble some of the early car clocks. There’s no lever or button for winding it or adjusting the dial from the front, but that may have been incorporated into its original frame, or perhaps it was intended to be popped out of the dash when necessary. While Lux made a great many clocks for fitting into novelty or other clockmakers’ cases, the absence of an alarm seems to make it doubtful that this is one of them. Whatever its original form, the actual mechanism is sound and it lasts several days from a single wind. The Art Deco numerals – slightly squared, with a shadow effect to add dimension – seem on the one hand timeless and on the other very redolent of the confidence and booming opportunities of the 1920s. A few dents on the rim and sides, and scratches and marks on the body, really only add character and evidence of the fact that this little machine has been ticking away for about a hundred years. The face and the glass or acrylic window are remarkably clean, and the two winders and the lever for adjusting the clock’s speed are all present. This is a very cool little clock with a lot of history and a certain industrial chic about it. It’s a bit different from the norm, which means it would look great either in a collection or just for its own sake as a curio.