Chas B. Klein Watch Trade Sign
Object/Artifact
The large gilded and painted pocket watch is from about 1910 and was probably for a jeweler or watch maker. There’s actually two names on it, so it probably had more than one owner. The name “W. EFFEY”, can be faintly seen near the center, who may have been the original store owner and sold the business to, “Charles J. Klein”. It was not unusual for signs to be painted over with a new owner’s name or maybe a separate business altogether.
2007.0081.0001
Signs in the 3D shape of a product or service offered by the business are called trade signs. American trade signs were common in the 18th and 19th centuries and typically used wood, and later metal as their main material. They used easy to understand symbols and limited wording not only because of low literacy rates but also the variety of languages spoken by immigrants. But, by the 1920s, trade signs began to fade away as the population became more educated, immigration slowed and illuminated signs took over.
Permanent Collection
Painted WoodMetal — Non-illuminated, Signs/Displays
Signs/Displays
circa 1910
1910 - 1919
26 in
WoodTinGold LeafPaint
wood core; tin exterior
Exhibit
