Title	Remember When...'tower clocks' kept time for Milwaukeeans?
Description	One of the few remaining street clocks in the city was removed on Jan. 29, 1951. It stood in front of the building at 1129 N. Water St., where the old Van Ess jewelry store was located. Ralph Schultz (left) bought the clock "to putter with." Albert Reed of Greendale was the workman in this picture. In the 1890s, there were about 50 tower clocks in Milwaukee. Sherburn Becker, Milwaukee's "boy mayor" from 1906 to 1908, decided to enforce a city ordinance against sidewalk obstructions and personally headed a picked crew of firemen and policemen who demolished the clocks "gleefully." The clocks, however, came back with David Rose in 1908, only to be slowly removed from the scene by electric clocks and wrist watches. Schultz tells us that later, when his clock's "time was up" he sold the works to another street clock owner. (Photograph and information provided by the Milwaukee Public Library local history collection.)
Library of Congress Subject Headings	Water Street (Milwaukee, Wis.); Reed, Albert; Schultz, Ralph; Tower clocks -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee; Clocks and watches -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee; Poblocki and Sons (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Publisher	Milwaukee Public Library
Contributor	Runge Marine Collection
Date Original	1951-01-29
Source	Milwaukee Journal
Newspaper Publication Date	10-11-1975
Date Copyrighted	2005
Type	Image
Has Format	Photograph
Relation	RW 1237
Collection	Remember When, F. P. Zeidler Humanities Room, Milwaukee Public Library
Rights	All rights reserved © Milwaukee Public Library
Order form	http://www.mpl.org/coldfusion/email_digital_rw.cfm
Date created	04-25-2006