A Solution for Unreliable Employees

By Jubilee P. Reid

Organized security patrols have long been a part of civilization. Railroads have often had their own guards and for centuries factories have employed watchmen to patrol their grounds especially during the night when the buildings are closed. The problem of unreliable employees has always existed and throughout history a variety of systems have been used to ensure guards cover the grounds assigned to them. The most successful system, until the time of electronic monitoring, has been the portable mechanical watchman’s clock.

On July 15, 1855 a German by the name of Johannes Burk (1819 – 1872) received a patent for the first watchman’s clock. Burk was mayor of Schwenningen, a town in southern Germany, and therefore oversaw the town watchmen. He must have been unimpressed by his employee’s productivity to have invented what he called a “nightwatchman control clock.” His invention is of a simple design; it consists of a paper strip rotated inside a case by a small portable clock. Unique keys chained to wall boxes at various spots on a patrolman’s path would be inserted into the clock leaving a mark on the paper tape or disk. The supervisor would remove the paper later and could know the exact time the watchman reached each location.

Burk formed a clock company and became one of the largest names in time clock production. His company later merged with other corporations, becoming the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Burk’s invention, referred to as “guard tour clocks,” “mechanical time clocks,” and a combination of other names, was widely used, with the design changing very little over the next 150 years.

The largest producer of watchman clocks in the United States was the Detex Corporation, located in New Braunfels, Texas. The Detex Corporation began in 1878 under a different name and was incorporated in 1906 by inventor and salesman, Abraham Newman, as the Newman Clock Company. Beginning in the 1920s, they produced mechanical watchman clocks until December 31, 2011, when production ended due to the popularity of electronic logging systems. The Detex Corporation continues today as one of the lead security equipment producers in the United States.

Detex produced four watchman clock models. These used numbered station keys which embossed the key number into the paper which had time slots preprinted onto it. The clocks had two keyholes: one on the outside of the unit for the watchman to insert station keys into, and a second inside the leather cover for the supervisor’s use. The supervisor would unlock the clock case and remove the tape to verify that the guard completed his route in a timely manner. The tape could be disposed of once verified or stored in company files. The supervisor would then replace the disk or tape and wind the clock if needed, then the clock would be ready for the next shift. Detex clocks were designed to be tamper proof; they punctured the tape every time the clock was opened so it would be obvious if unauthorized personnel accessed the tape.

All watchman clocks made by Detex used German-produced one-day movements from the Burk firm in Schwenningen. Import tariffs on these parts increased in the 1930s, causing Detex to seek an American manufacturer. In 1939, imports from Germany ended when the American-based Chelsea Clock Company began manufacturing these parts.

Though successful, the early Detex watchman clocks used a disk which allowed them to record only 24 hours at a time. In 1947, Detex began production of an offshoot model of their original Newman design. This was the “Detex Guardsman,” a watchman clock which could record up to four days on 48 inches of paper tape coiled inside and could record stops at up to 40 stations. The durable shock resistant clock mechanism in the Guardsman had an 8-day movement. This model could cover the increasingly popular two- or three-day weekends without a supervisor’s attention. Detex clocks were accepted by insurance companies as proof of a watchman’s routes.

Among the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum’s collection is a Detex Guardsman patrol clock. Displayed in the Industry Exhibit, it is circular with an approximately seven-inch diameter and is three inches thick. The two-inch-wide clock face is centered on the unit and features Detex’s name and location. A metal plate, featuring a uniformed guard wearing a bearskin hat, turns on a rivet and covers the main keyhole. The device is on a leather strap which is adjustable using 11 notches. The leather casing is attached to the metal interior using closely spaced rivets; a snap closure holds the unit shut.

Inside the cover is a label which states, “Sales Service Supplies Ph. 615/267-6611 International Equipment Co., Inc. 1108 Dayton Blvd., Chattanooga, Tenn. 37405.” This company was founded in Chattanooga in April 1959 by former employees of IBM. They sold timeclocks. The International Equipment Co. was located on Frazier Avenue, then Cherokee Boulevard, before moving to Dayton Boulevard in 1975. They moved to their current location on Pineville Road in 1994. The company still operates today supplying time systems and fire protection equipment under the Matthew Group. The International Equipment Co. distributed Detex watchman clocks including the one now in the museum’s collection.

Though electronic patrol systems are now the standard, these reliable watchman clocks kept patrolmen accountable for 150 years thanks to a mayor in Germany.