My George Nelson Clock Archive  

Are you looking...
to SELL some of these items you have acquired? If the mirror you speak of is one with the quatrefoil pattern milled out of it (and similar in shape to the clock), I'd be interested to see what you might want for it.

I'm Not Selling any of the Collection. I want to begin Posting the info
I'm Not Selling any of the Collection. I want to begin Posting the info so George Nelson/ Howard Miller Clock fans can see what was made and who ACTUALLY Designed the Items. Much of the Literature states the designer. I also have several thick Company Financial Reports showing who was paid royalties on which items from the early 60's-70's. There are Surprises!
My Wooden Meridian Mirrors have two rows of Cut Out QuaterFoils along the bottom. There are two different styles shown in the actual selling folder for this Quarterfoil style. One has one Row, the other style has two, based upon size! The version that matches the clock in size has one row. The Larger size has two. I'll try to post images soon. There is also a large folding Wall Screen that has several rows across the top of each panel ( Identical Panel to Clock Base) with solid thin plywood panels on the lower two thirds. The Cigarette/Cigar box has reversible colored formica panels, White on One Side, Walnut on the other side.

Sounds like neat stuff Mike,
I'd love to see that Quatrefoil collection if you get the chance to shoot some photos of it. There was one of those larger mirrors listed on the "radar" portion of this site a while back but I waited to long on it and missed it. Congrats on all the cool finds!

Don't be put off by the lack...
Don't be put off by the lack of enthusiasms as I'm sure Nelson fans are nursing their jealousy rashes. Do you have anything that sheds light on production numbers?

real nice clocks
but I don't think any of them were produced while George Nelson was involved with Howard Miller.
They're probably Arthur Umanoff.

I have a promotional photo of George Nelson with the Two Grandfather Clocks
I have a Black and While publicity photo of George Nelson, buried amongst the archive of Howard Miller Literature with 6 Grandfather Clocks. ( Two of which are Linked as Photos above and I have two others ) with a white strip of Typewriter paper glued on the front bottom that says " George Nelson Reaches New Heights in Design! 6 new Statements In Time from the Barwick Division of Howard Miller.
The financial Statements show that GN Associates got a Royaly on that series and VERY FEW were made. The number were something like 12, 125, 6, 275, 79, 112. I'll ask an attorney if I can get into trouble for just scanning and posting that info. GN Associates shows Zroyalties up to like 1986( but I am missing a lot of years. They go by style number, line designation. But no description. So I need to match it to clocks. Other Design firms got Royalties too. Urbanoff is never mentioned by name and the Royalties are coded on the financial statements. GN Associates is Obviously George Nelson. The Words " Meridian Do Not show up in the Financial Sheets as line names.
I've been buying clocks on Ebay usually not attributed to GN Associates but Ones he was definitely receiving Royalties. There seem to be clocks with his hands other firms were being paid royalties for.
George Nelson Associates had at least 6 institutional Commissions for Clocks in the 1960's . On was for Plane Terminal. Those paid HUGE Royalties compared to his Stock Clock line. That did really catch my attention. It takes hours gleaning through the paperwork from the NYC Showroom which ends around 1989. The showroom had a rep company name. I'll try to pull the stuff out.
He definitely did a line of 6 Mantel Clocks, I have a single sheet flyer, but have never seen one of those clocks show up anywhere. They were very sleek and obviously skinny front to back. One pictured looks very similar to the eye clock. All Key Wind. I'll try to find that quick and scan it. They are from GN right on the literature. I have a beautiful Black and White Picture of Two GN Banjo Type Clocks. There is a rubber Stamp on the back that says Return to George Nelson Associates with a NYC Address.
I'll try to post some scans soon. One thing Stands Out! He was NOT getting rich from Clock sales 1968-1985. There are LOTS of Item Numbers with Very Low sales figures each Year!
Typed out on My Iphone! Please Forgive Typos!
I have VERY LITTLE Meridian Line Info or literature except items made ONLY from wood! I wonder if Howard Millers Reps actually represented those Ceramic Lines.

I must Add
That Meridian Clock Line that I have Pictured with the Cut-Out Quaterfoils shows up as a Partial Royalty on the Financial Sheets. It shows a 50% Of total royalty due. It's on the Financials as " Home Line" found only by item numbers. It sold VERY POORLY! All number under 500 pieces in that line. That larger Mirror only sold 75 pieces with 55 as unsold stock so it was not a good seller. The clock must have been made in one run of 500 pieces because the sales were 140 with 352 in inventory. The missing ones might have been showroom samples. I noticed that Howard Miller was Selling a LOT of Battery Operated Mechanisms to a Company in Lower Manhattan, around 2,000- 4,000 a year. (Varied) Probably say Howard Miller on the Back and another company name on the front. At least 6 different entities were getting royalties from 1960's to 1980's. They are abbreviated on the financial sheets. I'll post the abbreviations so you can figure them out. Howard Miller was Actually receiving royalties on Licensed agreements that show at at the time period.

To Clarify
George Nelson Associates seems to have had a split royalty agreements on some clocks and lines. The Quartrefoil Meridian Line shows up on the one financial statement that mentioned the product ID numbers as a 50% of Net Royalty to GN Associates.
Overall, the Royalty Percentages varied by item and product line as well. It's not explained why. The royalty seemed to vary between 1.5% and 7.5% of NET Sales after Returns, Discounts.

On your i-phone!
That is good tiny typing.
A curious subject!
I've wondered why the Nelson hands were used on other clocks?
The mystery continues...
The late 70's and early 80's were very odd times.
Especially fashion. In NYC the slouch boots are back! Yikes!
And shoulder pads. Everything is 'Dallas' again.

I just picked up this desk cl...
I just picked up this desk clock, and I remembered this thread which mentions Howard Miller and the 'Quatrefoil' pattern.
I haven't been searching for any more clocks, but this little desk clock piqued my curiosity. It has a Chronopak Howard Miller Clock Co. label on the back.