39 years ago my neighbor gave me a cheap dollar store battery powered wall cock as a house warming gift. I have used that clock all this time and it has made the trips to California and Nevada and Texas and finally back to the original state it was sold. I forget the first time it was dropped from a wall but at that time it broke off a large section of the plastic outside mold and I put it back on the wall and it ran fine. Years later it happened once again and the large hand popped off and I managed to slide the bezel up and off and just push the big hand back into position and set the time and it has worked great for at least 10 or 12 years. Last night I got up and was stumbling around and I put my hand up on the wall to find my way in the dark and I pushed the old clock off that wall again for the 3rd time. It did not break off any more outer plastic but the large hand popped off again so I put it back on and set time again and it is still just ticking away. Not bad for a clock that cost probably no more than 5 bucks. If I live long enough and the motor finally dies I will try and find a replacement motor. They were once easy to find because a lot of people were building clocks as a hobby so I feel sure the little motor is still available. It's not pretty to look at but there is just something special about the old clock, it has seen a lot of days come and go.
They are amazing, aren't they. I just ran across one in a drawer at my parents place, and thought about that same thing. Brought it home. New battery. It's doing just fine. They need to make them so they don't last so long.
That is one thing I don’t like about myself, I become irrationally attached to some things. I know they are just materials, assembled a certain way but I still get very attached to them. Not for any human connection reasons either. Most recently, my wife is giving me a hard time about an amplifier I’m trying to get repaired. I took it to a place, only to have the pots cleaned because they were very noisy. Well he decided to replace a capacitor and several diodes, probably just to boost his labor cost, and it lasted about 3 hours before it went into protection. The guy who has it now has had it since November and said someone botched a repair in it (uh, yep). He has had to order some hard to locate components but thinks he can still repair it. I know I will have spent more on it than it’s worth but I just want it back and working.
We have had one on the porch in outside in the elements and it still works fine. They are great clocks, can't beat them for the money.
Makes you wonder if they can make these wall clocks and ship them for $10 and work for years and your car has a year warranty.
I like old analog battery operated clocks especially if there is no covering on it. Easier to change the time forward and backward one hour. Plus they are like pieces of art.
I see where FORD is warranting their new Trucks for ONE MILLION MILES...... Looking at the age of a buyer I think it would be hard to live long enough to drive one million miles. Heck I hate to drive two blocks to the Post Office. I don't think any of our new vehicles will last even 20 years, mainly because they have chopped so much weight from the bodies and the engines just for a teaspoon of fuel savings. I saw a Chevy one ton Pickup that had a typical bed tool box that sits up next to the rear of the bed and the bed had cracked evenly from the end of the length of that tool box. The body was so thin it had no support for anything. It was no more than a year old !
I found a battery operated wall clock at an estate sale by Walthom and made in the USA. It has a wood frame as opposed to the usual plastic so it's old but works fine. Price=$1.00.