Pocket Watches

Pocket Watches: Never going out of style

We have all probably known someone who owns a pocket watch because they tend to be family heirlooms that people will carry around because of its significance. When we see someone with a timepiece like this we think of the 19th century, which signifies elegance, charm, and wealth. True that someone doesn’t have to be wealthy in order to carry one of these timepieces, but that is the feeling you seem to get when you see one.

To this day pocket watches are given as gifts and we may see older folks still carrying around their father or even their grandfather’s timepiece that was given to them when they were children. They do not wear like a timepiece on their wrist, nor do they damage as easily. These collector’s items are very special and possess a history that the wristwatch does not seem to measure up to.

It was the end of the 19th century when railroading was flourishing all over and the rise in use of the silver pocket watch grew with the industry. It ended up being a requirement that railroad workers had to use one of these timepieces in order to prevent train wrecks. This “precision standard” was established because of a horrible train wreck in Kipton, Ohio in 1891. It was then in 1893 that very strict standards were put in place. It required the carrying of silver timepieces by railroad workers.

This is most certainly an interesting piece of history for the pocket watch. It makes one wonder if the timepiece they have that belonged to an ancestor from the late 1800’s is amongst the same timepieces that were used on the railroad. If not, that is just fine and dandy since it is a piece of family history, but if it is, then what that person has in their possession is not only a piece of family history, but a piece of history in itself.

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