Timex watches: A part of American history including Mark Twain and Mickey Mouse

Waterbury Clock was making timepieces for the American working class in the mid to late 1800's with clocks that were reliable and affordable. The Waterbury Clock company developed in Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley, which was dubbed the "Switzerland of America" because of the innovative clockmaking in the area.

By the turn of the century, the watch industry's biggest marketer, Robert H. Ingersoll, worked with Waterbury Clock to release the "Yankee" pocketwatch. It became widely popular and was worn by most everyone, from Mark Twain to farmers, to office clerks to miners. It had a one dollar price tag and was coined "the watch that made the dollar famous."

During WWI, the U. S. Government looked to Waterbury to make the Yankee into a wristwatch, and after the war, soldiers came home wearing them and continued to wear them as did large numbers of civilians.

In 1933, Waterbury teamed up with Disney to develop the first Mickey Mouse pocket watch, and despite the Great Depression, it was wildly popular. During WWII, once Waterbury, now the newly renamed "U. S. Time Company," began making watches completely for the military.

In the 1950's, Timex sales soared when commercials of their watches enduring tortures aired. These tortures included freezing and being spun in a vaccuum cleaner. Timex soonafter released a woman's watch, electric watches for women and men, and jeweled watches.

Timex has continued to innovate technologically to provide high quality and highly accurate watches at affordable prices for the public.

For more information about Timex watches or related products, choose from one of the following links:

Watches | Men's Watches | Women's Watches