Haddon Sun Gold'N Hour

by Roger Russell

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This clock has a shiny gold finish and is usually coated with clear lacquer. The hours are indicated by large raised radial lines on the ring at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock. Smaller raised lines are at the other hours.

A synchronous motor is located in the base. The glass remains stationary and the motor drives a large outer gear in the ring of the clock. A hook is attached to the minute hand that engages a hole in this gear. The minute hand is then driven which drives the hour hand through gears at the center of the dial. The minute hand is on its side for the picture at the right.

The outer gear has 192 teeth and is driven by the motor output gear that has 24 teeth. This is a reduction of 8 to 1. The output gear turns once every 7.5 minutes X 8, which is exactly 60 minutes, needed for one revolution of the outer gear.

To set the time, turn the minute hand clockwise only. The hook on the minute hand does not disengage to allow the minute hand to turn in either direction as in other Haddon mystery clocks. A ratchet in the motor gearbox prevents turning in the opposite direction. When setting the time, the entire outer ring turns as well as the output motor gear. The minute hand may need to be turned full circle several times to set the correct hour and minutes. Push the end of the minute hand for a smooth advancing action.

The clock face is angled back by about 10 degrees. The base has 10 vertical lines joining the dial ring. No model number is given on the bottom cover, just the name Sun Gold'N Hour and patent number 2,843,999. The date of April 2, 1962 is stamped inside the base of this clock.

The clock is 7" high and the dial is 6-1/4" in diameter. The base is 5-3/8" wide and 4-1/4" deep. The base plate is 0.025" steel. It has gold colored paint with black lettering. Weight is 1.8 lbs. It is for use on 110V 60cy AC only, 3W and is UL approved.

There is much confusion about the identity of these clocks. Several Gold'n Hours have been found with the wrong base plates. One has a Golden Visionette plate. Another has a Sun Gold'n Hour base plate but in the right light, different wording can be seen under the paint. It says "Golden Visionette Special Model 80S." Further, on the other side of the plate it says "Golden Secretary Model No. 80-S."

Haddon also made custom clocks. A sun Gold’n Hour was used because it had the hour markings on the outer ring. This way, the numbers that were normally painted on the glass would not interfere with the images. The images of the bowlers are painted on the back of the glass. The bright portion is shiny gold and the duller portion is flat gold. Jefferson Electric also made custom clocks but they were 3-dimensoinal figures. The glass could not be painted because the glass rotates.

Haddon base plates were often the wrong ones. These two clocks both had Golden Secretary plates, which, of course, they are not.