Articles \ "The Waterbury Watch Co's Pavilion"
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THE WATERBURY July, 1893
“The Waterbury Watch Co.’s Pavilion”
The beautiful pavilion shown in our accompanying supplement this month is one of the most striking and tasteful among the many beautiful structures within the great Manufacturers Building in Chicago.
This pavilion is in section O, Block I, about eighty feet east of Columbia Avenue; next to the Ansonia Clock Co., and facing north. The general design is Moorish, with the suggestion of a Greek temple, about the roof.
The representation of an ancient sun dial appears above the entrance in which but a segment of a circle is used. The numeral I is in the center of the arc and the numerals follow in order to the right until VII is reached, when the same numeral is repeated at the extreme left of the arc, and the higher numerals follow till the return to I. A single hand on a pivot at the center of the base points the time.
The glass lights around the upper part of the pavilion are of double chipped glass forming a white ground-work with an amber colored letter in each pane. The front and back spell the word “Waterbury” and the sides spell “Watches.” The four corners have the Company’s monogram in amber and the effect is decidedly pleasing. A tall tower is on each outside corner with handsome blue silk banners on the top of each tower.
The pavilion is furnished in colonial colors, cream and gold, with a delicate blue ceiling finished in gold. A hectagon case at the bottom of each tower is furnished with plate glass with beveled edges and a mirror for a background. The cases have revolving centers and are filled with watches. Each shelf, which is also hectagon, has a slanting plate-glass mirror in the back and the entire watch can be seen some distance away, that is, by anyone coming down the aisle. A beautiful shade of blue plush has been used in covering the shelves and the bottoms of the cases.
The two top compartments are trimmed in pale green silk, and the bottom ones are trimmed, one side light blue and the other a pretty shade of lavender. The dark plush designs show up beautifully against the light colored silks.
A handsome electric chandelier with a mirror reflector and a cluster of lights in the center of that ceiling illuminates the booth at night in a dazzling fashion, showing off the watches finely. There are also four lights in each wall case, adding to the brilliant effect.
For size, this pavilion is probably the prettiest structure in the Manufacturers building.
The preparation of the exhibit has had careful attention of several artists in design, color, and arrangement, under the direction of Mr. E. B. Downs, whose artistic window displays have made his name pleasantly familiar to many of our friends in the jewelry trade.
They will all be cordially welcomed by Mr. Downs and Mr. Holmes, who are in charge of the exhibit.
Inside the pavilion is the wonderful Century Clock fully described in our April number. A little booklet descriptive of this clock is given to every visitor. And also we give to any who are interested in the exhibit a little souvenir folder in which is written the name of the nearest jeweler to the visitor’s home, who keeps the quick-winding watches.
This folder aims to be just as brief and pointed as possible, so that it may be read almost at a glance, and at same time compact, interesting and useful; so that it will be put in the pocket and kept for reference.
The design on the cover of the descriptive booklet is a very artistic little bit of pen and ink drawing by E. H. Blashfield, the well-known artist.