Seth Thomas Clock Company
Information from Wholesale, Retail, and Manufacturer’s Catalogs
Historical Importance of Trade Publications
Original trade publications often preserve information no longer available in surviving factory records. Catalog engravings, price sheets, retailer supplements, and distribution circulars can help establish approximate manufacturing periods, identify private label relationships, and document historically important Seth Thomas variations that are rarely represented in modern reference books.
1929 Confidential Export Dealer’s Price List No. 789-4
The publication of regular Dealer’s Price Lists documented Seth Thomas Clock Company practice across the company’s history and was also reflected in the Seth Thomas Watch Company’s practice. Knowing what the overarching corporate culture and practices were in the Seth Thomas Clock Company informs us of what to look for in reconstructing the history of the Seth Thomas Watch Company and knowing what to look for is half of the battle in that process.
