Duquesne Brewery Clock
{{Short description|American landmark}}
{{Infobox PAhistoric
| name = Duquesne Brewery Clock
| PAhistoric_type =
| designated_PAhistoric_type =
| image = DuquesneBrewingClockPittsburgh.jpg
| alt =
| caption = The clock, with AT&T logo on the face
| coordinates = {{coord|type:landmark_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Pennsylvania
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| location = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| built = 1933
| demolished =
| architect =
| architecture =
| governing_body =
}}
File:Equitable Gas Pittsburgh (4080998851).jpg
Located on the Duquesne Brewing Company building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Duquesne Brewery Clock was the largest single-face clock in the world when it was installed in 1933. Over the years its face has been used to advertise numerous brands, beginning with Coca-Cola.{{Cite news | title = Other campuses | newspaper = Armour Tech News | location = Chicago, Ill. | publisher = Armour Institute of Technology | date = 3 April 1934 | page = 2 | url = http://archives.iit.edu/technews/volume13/tnvol13no8.pdf | accessdate = 3 July 2010}}
History
File:Pittsburgh South Side 2019-08-05 Duquesne Brewery Clock.jpgThe {{convert|60|x|60|ft|m|adj=on}} clock face, with a {{convert|35|ft|m|adj=on}} minute hand and a {{convert|25|ft|m|adj=on}} hour hand,{{Cite news | last = Danver | first = Charles F | title = The big clock | newspaper = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | page = 31 | date = 30 October 1962 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0ptRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6610%2C4709087 | accessdate = 3 July 2010}} both of laminated aluminum, is nearly twice the size of London's Big Ben, and was built in Georgia by Audichron for $12,500 and shipped to Pittsburgh.{{Cite news | last = Paris | first = Barry | title = Time is no longer frozen on landmark clock | newspaper = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | page = 17 | date = 27 June 1983 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3MdaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6500%2C5908432 | accessdate = 3 July 2010}} The clock, designed by Audichron founder John L. Franklin, is driven by a {{convert|1.25|hp|kW|adj=on}} Janett motor.{{Cite web | title = Duquesne Brewery Clock, Pittsburgh | date = 5 May 2009 | publisher = NAWCC Communications Forum | url = http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?t=50052 | accessdate = 3 July 2010}}
Originally located on a Mount Washington hillside,{{Cite web | last = Brashear | first = Derrick | title = History of Duquesne Brewery clock faces | publisher = rusty bridge | date = 16 January 2010 | url = http://rustybridge.com/post/337822200/history-of-duquesne-brewery-clock-faces | accessdate = 4 July 2010 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110715214948/http://rustybridge.com/post/337822200/history-of-duquesne-brewery-clock-faces | archivedate = 15 July 2011 }} the clock's face was used as advertising for a succession of beverages, including Coca-Cola, and Fort Pitt,{{Cite web | title = Constructing the Power House| url = http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?rgn1=ic_all;xc=1;g=imls;sort=dc_da;q1=Lake%20Erie%20power;size=20;c=hpicasc;c=hpicchatham;c=hpiccma;c=hpiccmnh;c=hpichswp;c=hpicmonroeville;c=hpicnpl;c=hpicoakmont;c=hpicphlf;c=hpicpitcairn;c=hpicpointpark;c=hpicpso;c=hpicrsc;c=hpicusc;back=back1400200645;subview=detail;resnum=56;view=entry;lastview=thumbnail;cc=hpicasc;entryid=x-8223.6639.rr;viewid=6639RR.TIF | accessdate = 16 May 2014}} Ballantine, Carling, and Schlitz beers. In 1961, the Duquesne Brewing Company bought the clock, painted its "Have A Duke" slogan on the face and installed it atop its building in the South Side where it has been running since. After the brewery closed in 1972, the clock was leased to Stroh's Beer, then WTAE-TV Channel 4. After WTAE's lease ended in 1993, the clock continued to run without an ad. The Pittsburgh Brewing Company paid $44,000 to repair the clock when it took over in 1999, paying $5,000 a month to show its logo on the face. In 2002, Equitable Gas paid to have their name placed on the clock. In October 2009, AT&T took over the rights to advertise on the clock and redesigned the face to display the traditional blue and white AT&T logo.{{Cite news | last = Nelson Jones | first = Diana | title = AT&T to sponsor landmark clock on the South Side | newspaper = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date = 28 October 2009 | url = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09301/1008753-53.stm | accessdate = 3 July 2010}}
As of 2017, the clock is running without advertising.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}
In popular culture
The clock is featured prominently in the 1983 movie Flashdance.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}
References
{{Commons category|Duquesne Brewery Clock}}
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/CocaColaClock.html History of the Coca-Cola Clock on The Brookline Connection]
{{Pittsburgh}}
Category:Clocks in the United States
Category:Individual signs in the United States
Category:Industrial buildings and structures in Pittsburgh