What year did the first clock displaying digital numbers appear?

Friday, February 25th, 2011, Netcast 1295

I found a clock that would have been in the Gadget Warehouse if I had born a lot earlier. While I was in Miami for the Boat Show. I made a side visit to the Wolfsonian Museum. With an exhibit called Speed Limits how could I not go? (The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL.) Speed Limits explores the impact of speed on our daily lives. (The exhibition has ended but a spokesperson said it will move on to other museums.) It was interesting to know that studies of how to speed up things at home and at work have been going on since the 1920’s. Increasingly, humans are processing complex overlapping of information including time and related data. This growth is reflected in a collection of clocks illustrating the tempo of modern life. In the early to mid-1930’s Lindley S. Lawson and Harold B. Lawson opened a clock business. Their company, Lawson Clocks Limited made a line of strikingly modern digital clocks that displayed the time on rolling wheels much like an odometer. (Yep, just like a modern digital clock!) The clocks were of very high quality, with many exhibiting the latest streamlined designs. For some models, Lawson worked with designer KEM Weber to ensure the clock cases were as up-to-date as the digital concept. The clock on display at Speed Limits was a KEM Weber design. I found it amazing for a 1933 device. Thanks to the web, I discovered a guy who put the history of Lawson clocks online. And I even found someone selling a Lawson clock on Ebay. Here are a couple of interesting things from the description on Ebay: “Even though the clock measures approximately 8" long by 3 1/2" wide by 3 3/4" Tall and features a Fine wood cabinet with metal deco style trim accents, it still weighs approximately 3 pounds. (They really built stuff to last back then.) A real 1920's-30's art deco look and it works, although is a little slow. Loses about 30 minutes every day or so- but does work!!!” (Hmmm, off by 30 minutes a day is pretty bad time keeping, but hey it’s about 80 years old! History of Lawson clocks:

http://www.decopix.com/Lawson_Clocks/

Info on the Museum: www.wolfsonian.org

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1295