[W&B] More on W Watson & Sons

[Eric Evans]

MessageHi Michael,
                  Nice work. I got my 89s and 98s mixed, due to advancing senility. I was amazed to think that some of the mouldings on my Watson Tailboard had been made with a moulding plane; now it seems they probably weren't. Still pretty labour intensive though, at the finishing stage.
Regards,
Eric.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michael Pritchard 
  To: woodandbrass at Lists.KJSL.COM 
  Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 4:43 PM
  Subject: [W&B] More on W Watson & Sons


  Further to my posting a couple of days ago (appended below) I can now add a bit more about Watsons and mechanisation.

  In May 1889 the works are described as a 'veritable factory'  with a fifteen h.p. Crossley engine in the basement to power machines for planing, cutting, moulding and shaping wood. Four sawing machines were also present. With regard to the Acme camera:  'all the individual parts are made by machinery as far as machinery is applicable to its production, yet after everything is finished it occupies over two weeks for a highly skilled workmen to put together and fit a full-plate one for being placed on the shelves of the warehouse' . 

  Hope that's of interest. 

  Michael Pritchard 
  www.mpritchard.com 


   -----Original Message-----
  From: Michael Pritchard [mailto:michael at mpritchard.com] 
  Sent: 03 February 2008 21:45
  To: 'woodandbrass at Lists.KJSL.COM'
  Subject: RE: [W&B] My New W&B web site


    W Watson and Sons: The 'W' stands for William. It was really his son, Thomas Parsons Watson, who extended the firm's business into optical instrument making; and photographic equipment manufacturing also started around this time. The company was certainly mechanised from 1888. I wrote a piece on the company's history for the Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography (Routledge, 2007).

    Regards

    Michael Pritchard 
    www.mpritchard.com 


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