Windup Plato Clock

The windup Plato clock was invented in 1903 by Eugene L. Fitch. Inside the glass cylinder, two celluloid plates revealed the time. The numbers flipped to the left, like the pages in a book. These plates, a major innovation from dial-face versions,gave the clock its name. The American Electrical Novelty & Manufacturing Company of Manhattan financed the production of the design, and outsourced the job to a few European factories until the start of WWI.

This version was made in Germany, probably by Junghans clock company in Schramberg.These imports were sold for six dollars in the first decade of the 1900s.