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226 • May/June 2016 • NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin www.nawcc.org

In the twentieth century Zeeland, MI, became a hotbed of clock manufacturing after the founding of Colonial Manufacturing

Co. in 1906. Colonial Manufacturing Co.’s success spawned other clock-manufacturing companies in Zeeland. This article is about a small family-owned company, Trend Clock Co., that successful-ly manufactured and sold clocks for 30 years, competing against much larger companies until Sligh Furniture Co. purchased it in 1968. Sligh Furniture bought the company as the demand for grandfather clocks was increasing dramatically in the late 1960s and grew Trend Clock Co. into a major clock-manufacturing op-eration until the grandfather clock market declined in the early twenty-first century.1

Company FoundersTrend Clock Co. was founded by Gerrit van Tamelen and his

son, Gordon, in 1937. Around 1908 Gerrit had started at Colonial Manufacturing Co. as a band saw operator and worked his way up to foreman. He took leftover wood scraps from work and ex-

Sligh Clocksby Andrew H. Dervan, FNAWCC (MI)

TREND

Figure 2. Circular case clock, Morgan.

Figure 1. Small banjo

clock.

and

NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin • May/June 2016 • 227www.nawcc.org

perimented with ways to make small clock cases or wood products. In 1926 he left Colonial and moved to Herman Miller Clock Co., where he worked ini-tially in the shop and then as a manager for machine and cabinet rooms as well as a designer. Gordon also worked part time at Herman Miller, where one of his jobs was bandsawing clock hands. By 1936 the father and son observed that Herman Miller Clock Co. was not doing well financially because of the continuing Depression, so they started their own company.2

Company HistoryJan van Tamelen, Gerrit’s brother, suggested the

name “Trend Clock” to Gerrit because it sounded “modern.” Gerrit and son Gordon started the busi-ness in their basement at 57 Central Ave. in Zeeland

Figure 3. Spiral column shelf clock.

Figure 4. Hexagonal wall clock.


and later moved into their two-car garage and the attached chick brooding shed. In the summer of 1937 they developed an initial line of five mantel clock models with electric move-ments from Hammond Organ Co., which had patented a se-ries of electric motors for clocks.3

In the early fall of 1937 Jan traveled to large department stores in the Midwest to promote Trend’s clocks. He secured orders for Trend’s mantel clocks from Marshall Fields in Chi-cago, J. L. Hudson in Detroit, and several other stores in Mid-west cities. The company completed and delivered the clocks just in time for Christmas in 1937.

An early Trend difficulty was financing, because setting up a business in the late 1930s was expensive while the country

Figure 5. Unsigned painted dial clock similar to the nineteenth- century German shield clock.

Figure 6. Miniature grandfather clock.


was still recovering from the Depression. Sell-ing its clocks also was difficult, because clocks carried a 20 percent tax, which was not speci-fied, so many were sold in stores on consign-ment.

Originally, Gerrit designed the products, but he realized he needed some training, so he took some design courses. Gordon took two years of commercial design, which was help-ful when he succeeded Gerrit as Trend Clock’s clock designer (Figures 1-9).4

In 1941 the company switched to Sessions electric movements, because the Hammond movements were not self-starting. During World War II there was a movement short-age, so the company used its woodworking expertise to make walnut instrument cases and wooden novelty items, such as pipe racks, poker chip stands, and cigarette pack holders (Figures 10-12).

In 1946 Trend resumed clock production us-ing Hansen electric movements. Hansen Mo-tor Corp. is in Princeton, IN, and has been a major manufacturer of electric motors.

In 1949 it introduced its first grandmother clock, which did not sell well, because it was only 50 inches tall. After Gerrit increased its height to 60 inches, the grandmother clock be-came a successful seller. Trend’s initial grand-mother clock retailed for $199 in 1949; that same clock cost $700 in 1980.

In 1951 the company needed a new source of mechanical clock movements, so Gordon placed an advertisement in a German trade magazine and solicited bids for movements. Figure 7. Wall clock, school clock design.

Figure 8. Electric

mantel clock.


Schatz & Soehne in Triberg, Germany, responded to the advertisement and agreed to supply Trend the move-ments.5

On May 17, 1948, the company was incorporated as Trend Clock, Inc. with Gerrit van Tamelen as president; Gordon van Tamelen, vice president; Beatrice van Tamel-en, Gordon’s wife, secretary; and Jan van Tamelen, trea-surer. Trend had distributors in all continental states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. When Gerrit turned 65, he retired. In 1952 Melvin S. Boonstra purchased Ger-rit’s interest in Trend after he sold Zeeland Coal Co.6

In a January 2013 interview with Boonstra, age 96 at the time, he provided me with some interesting com-ments from his ten years as a partner at Trend. After he sold Zeeland Coal Co. in Zeeland, Boonstra was urged by Adrian Vander Bosch, Zeeland State Bank’s president, to purchase Gerrit’s share in Trend because it was a good in-vestment. Boonstra had no knowledge of the clock indus-try or clock manufacturing when he became a partner,

but he had managed several successful businesses. After surveying the clock business, Boonstra quickly realized Trend could not compete with the major successful Con-necticut clock companies and observed that most clocks did not really complement current furniture designs.

Boonstra suggested to Gordon that they hire a furni-ture designer to develop some clock designs and concepts that would complement current furniture styles, includ-ing the popular French provincial. Gordon agreed and they hired Charles M. Lee from Grand Rapids, MI. Lee provided several clock designs and concepts; they chose several that looked promising and commercialized them.

Boonstra also suggested that they approach furniture retailers with these new furniture case-style clocks in-stead of jewelry stores. The new clock designs and sales strategy were successful, and the company’s sales and profits increased. Boonstra and Gordon divided the com-pany responsibilities with Boonstra concentrating on sales and Gordon on design and manufacturing.

Figure 9. Square case wall clock.


Figure 10. Pipe rack and tobacco jar.

Figure 12. Cigarette pack holder.

Figure 11. Pipe rack.


As clock production increased, Boonstra suggested that Trend had outgrown its factory and needed a larger building. However, Gordon resisted Melvin’s suggestions for expanding the factory. Gordon was concerned the company would need to borrow a large sum of money from the bank to finance the expansion, and the compa-ny might have difficulty repaying the loan if clock sales slowed. Their disagreement over the business vision was probably the reason Melvin asked Gordon to purchase his share of the business.

Boonstra added that during the 1950s the company continued to purchase its synchronous electric move-ments from Hansen Motor Corp. and its mechanical movements from Schatz in Germany. Hansen allowed Trend to pay after receiving the movements, whereas Schatz wanted payment up front before delivering the movements. At the time of my interview with him, Boon-stra had a 50-plus-year-old Trend wooden mantel clock with a Hansen movement running accurately in his of-fice.7

Trend’s clocks had a recognized value in the Zeeland community. In February 1958 Trend displayed its clock offerings at Zeeland State Bank as part of the bank’s “Meet Your Local Manufacturer” program. It was a practice to give a notable dignitary a Trend clock as a gift when he or she visited Zeeland for a city tour or gave a presenta-tion at a business or city event; this was noted numerous times in the Zeeland Record. In 1981 Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands was presented a Gordon van Tamelen Com-memorative mantel clock when she visited Zeeland.8

Trend’s enterprising work could be evidenced in the commitment of Gordon and Beatrice van Tamelen. In ad-dition to creating new clock designs, Gordon supervised the manufacturing operations. He commented that new clock designs required detailed research into furniture trends by seeking input from their representatives and customers, and market demands. His designs tried to capture features from early American and French provin-cial periods. Dealers were always looking for something “fresh,” and he sought designs customers would find at-tractive and desirable for their homes.

Beatrice was in continual contact with Trend’s repre-sentatives and dealers. The company was represented by salesmen who traveled in all of the states, and it main-tained showrooms for dealers in Dallas, New York, Min-neapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.9

Sligh Purchases TrendIn 1968 Gordon approached Colonial Manufactur-

ing Co. about purchasing Trend, because competition for grandfather clocks was increasing as more companies with large manufacturing processes entered the clock market and Trend was so small and could not compete with the larger companies. Chris Den Herder, Colonial’s president, wanted the deal so he could eliminate the pesky little competitor, but Colonial’s board rejected the

proposal. Robert “Bob” Sligh, Sligh Furniture Co. president,

learned about Colonial’s rejection of Trend’s purchase offer and quickly approached Gordon about purchasing Trend. Sligh sensed the business possibilities with the growing popularity of grandfather clocks. Gordon quick-ly accepted Sligh’s offer. Trend was integrated into Sligh Furniture Co., and the clock line was marketed by Sligh’s sales force.10

Sligh continued using the Trend trade name for many years (Figure 13), because it was known in the market-place. After 1984 it dropped the name “Trend” and just used the name “Sligh”.

Thomas “Tom” van Tamelen, Gordon’s son, had held several positions at Trend and continued with the clock-manufacturing industry after Sligh Furniture purchased Trend. He developed the majority of Trend’s clock designs and catalogs and was a major driving force in Sligh, work-ing hard to increase sales each year by understanding the marketplace and introducing new innovative clock de-signs and finishing details. However, he left Sligh in 1993 and later designed several clocks for Ridgeway.11

Growth in the 1980s and 1990sBy the early 1980s the grandfather clock market was

very competitive because of the numerous companies in the marketplace. Design was important and fashion driv-en. The majority of grandfather clocks were being sold in “the low- to middle-price market,” and pricing competi-tion—offering retailers discounts to maintain sales—was depressing the profit margins. It was important to keep new designs secret to maintain a competitive advantage. Zeeland companies Colonial, Trend, and Miller were friendly competitors; they all imported movements from Germany and occasionally Miller or Trend loaned each other movements to keep production going.12

Sligh continued to grow after its acquisition of Trend. In 1980 Sligh Furniture Co. celebrated its 100-year an-niversary by introducing a Centennial Collection of high-end furniture and clocks—grandfather, wall, and mantel—in honor of Charles R. Sligh, who founded Sligh Furniture Co. in 1880. Those products paved the way for the introduction in 1983 of a high-end Charles R. Sligh clock line that set a new standard for high-end quality at Sligh.13

The company published a special 20-page commemo-rative insert section in the Zeeland Record for Sligh Fur-

Figure 13. Company

logo.


niture Co.’s anniversary. Four sections were devoted to Trend clock’s employees, clock design, and the manufac-turing process.

In July 1983 Sligh ran an eye-catching newspaper advertisement that contained a simulated top of a clock with a logo “PROGRESS WITH TIME” in the arch and be-low it in bold print “TREND CLOCK TO TRIPLE CAPAC-ITY IN ’84” followed by a photograph and story about the groundbreaking ceremony for the enlarged former Colonial Manufacturing Co. factory in Zeeland that Sligh purchased earlier in the year.14

Changes in company leadership were on the horizon. In the March 1985 issue of Sligh’s company newsletter The Sligh Scanner, Gordon van Tamelen’s retirement from the company was announced. It noted that he was Trend president, after his father retired in 1948, and Gordon re-tained that position until 1975 when Trend Clock Inc. was officially dissolved. The newsletter also noted that Colonial was preparing to close and Sligh cofounder Bill Lowry passed away. The president of Sligh wrote: “Now is the time for us to pull together and redouble our com-mitment to improved efficiencies, superior products, and superior customer service that meets customer needs. Our aim is to consistently generate healthy profits so that together we will thrive.”

By the early 1990s Trend Division’s clock-manufac-turing business experienced tremendous growth. Before Trend’s purchase by Sligh its annual sales in 1968 were $250,000. In 1992 its annual sales jumped to $22 mil-lion. In 1968 clock manufacturing was a small compo-nent of Sligh’s business, but by 1992 clocks accounted for a significant amount of the Sligh Co.’s annual sales. This dramatic business growth justified Robert Sligh who had anticipated that the market for university dormitory furniture would decline and that increasing grandfather clock sales would overcome the furniture business loss.15 Sligh’s clock sales were only surpassed by Howard Miller and Ridgeway.

A February 2000 Sligh Furniture Co. memo outlined the company’s success over the past five years, highlight-ing the introduction of new products and the major ac-complishments of each division. The Clock Division in-troduced new models each year with 27 in 1995, 18 in 1996, 34 in 1997, 36 in 1998, and 30 in 1999.

Bulova’s Brief Interlude in Clock Production Early in the twenty-first century, Sligh took steps to

exit clock manufacturing. In 2004 Sligh sold the factory to Innotec, but it continued to manufacture clocks in Hol-land, MI. However on May 11, 2005, that changed when Sligh announced it was selling its clock designs along with the customer and supplier information to Bulova.

Sligh and Bulova worked out the details to ensure there was a sufficient supply of Sligh clocks to last through the 2005 Christmas season. In 2005 Bulova celebrated its 130th anniversary and marketed various brands. It had

launched its grandfather division in 2003, had a clock-manufacturing plant in Canada, and had purchased the Sligh designs in hopes of creating an improved and ex-panded clock division.

However, in 2009 Bulova went out of the clock busi-ness. Although Sligh closed its factory and sold the de-signs and customer base to Bulova as clock sales declined, Sligh’s company officers believed it was an extremely pos-itive business opportunity to purchase Trend in 1968.16

Trend and Sligh FactoriesBecause Trend and Sligh had established their op-

erations in Zeeland, their growth individually and after Sligh’s acquisition of Trend can be observed in the move-ment to or construction of ever larger facilities. In 1943 Trend purchased a 9,000-square-foot dry goods store at 201 E. Main St. (Figure 14), a significant increase in facto-ry space from its original operation of 4,500 square feet. It used the basement for rough milling, the first floor for fine machining, and the second floor for cabinet assem-bling, finishing, and the installation of components, such as glass, hardware, movement, and dials. After Sligh’s ac-quisition of Trend in 1968, the Main Street building was sold and renovated into a bicycle shop (Figure 15).

In 1969 Sligh built a new facility at 260 N. Church St. that was 15,000 square feet. The company petitioned the City of Zeeland for a permit to erect an outside structure to hold a dust collector at the North Church Street facility (Figure 16).

A larger workforce precipitated the next move. In 1972 Sligh moved its clock production to a 40,000-square-foot modern plant at 38 Carlton Ave. with an additional 10,000-square-foot building nearby (Figure 17). In 1968 Trend had 12 employees when it was purchased by Sligh;

Figure 14. First Trend factory at 201 E. Main St., Zeeland, MI.


Figure 16. Second factory building at 260 N.

Church St., Zeeland, MI, in 2013.

Figure 17. Third factory building at 38 Carlton

Ave., Zeeland, MI, in 2013.

Figure 15. Former factory building at 201 N. Main St., Zeeland, MI, in 2013.


by 1972 40 employees were working at the Carlton Av-enue shop.17

The lumber supplied to the North Church Street and Carlton Avenue facilities was rough cut in Sligh’s furni-ture factory in Holland. After it arrived at the two facto-ries, the wood underwent final machining, assembly, fin-ishing, and the addition of all components, such as glass, hardware, movement, and dials. The completed clocks were then inspected and boxed for shipment.18

In 1979 Sligh Furniture announced it was moving part of its furniture manufacturing from Zeeland to a new plant in Holland, but it planned to leave the Trend clock manufacturing in Zeeland. Sligh noted that the Trend Clock Division was the company’s faster growing divi-sion. The Carleton Avenue facility had reached its maxi-mum capacity and was limiting its growth.19

In early 1983 Sligh purchased the former Colonial Manufacturing Co. factory at 201 W. Washington St. in Zeeland for $330,000. It petitioned the City of Zeeland to vacate Colonial Street between the two factory build-ings to cover the skywalk and close the street connecting the buildings and renovate the 75-year-old buildings. It provided Sligh with approximately 145,000 square feet of clock-manufacturing space, tripling the floor space of its existing manufacturing operation. On July 26, 1983, the

company held a formal groundbreaking ceremony with company officers and Zeeland city officers.

Sligh spent $500,000 on new equipment and $1 mil-lion on building renovations. The following factory up-grades were added:

• Ramp into the basement so lumber could be brought in on pallets

• Oven to dry the lacquer finish faster • Conveyors to move clock cases • Lifts to move clocks to the upper floors, eliminat-

ing the clumsy elevators.In April 1984 clock production began in the renovated

factory with 50 employees, and by the early 1990s the operation had grown to approximately 160 employees. Clock production continued there until 2004 (Figures 18 and 19).20

Craftsmanship and the CraftsmenCraftsmanship was extremely important, because it

provided a unique value to the clock. Many companies in Zeeland, MI, were based on woodworking crafts. Trend selected the best American wood for its clocks; its crafts-men noted each wood’s individual grain while cutting and preparing for finishing. All cases were hand-glazed, allowing the experienced craftsmen to bring out each

Figure 18. Fourth factory

building at 201 W. Washington St., Zeeland, MI, in

2013.

Figure 19. Unloading ramp at Washington Street

factory in 2013.


wood’s natural beauty. Brian Holt, a Trend glazer, explained his pride in glaz-

ing, saying, “It’s the beauty step; it brings out the special qualities in the wood.” It is followed by the final lacquer finish that helps bring out the warm, personal touch in each clock. In summary, the attention to detail in select-ing wood and finishing was the key to producing a prod-uct that satisfied their customers.

Clock designs were created and full-size drawings were made of the most promising ones; engineers reviewed them, including construction details, and made changes to avoid any potential manufacturing problems. Five or six samples of the most promising designs were created and were shown at furniture markets throughout the US. Based on market feedback, the most positive design plans were finalized and made ready for production.

Wood came from the Sligh plant in Holland where it was rough cut to size. At the Trend plant the fine machin-ing was done, including shaping and boring. Delicate carvings, such as rosettes and finials, may have been done elsewhere and returned for installation and finishing. As-sembly was divided into subassembly and final assembly. Subassembly involved putting together individual wood pieces to form large components of the clock case. Final assembly involved putting together all of the components to form the complete case. After assembly, the case was sanded in preparation for finishing. Finishing operation involved as many as 15 steps, including hand-sanding, staining, hand-glazing, and hand-rubbing.

The clock was next “trimmed out,” which meant the glass and hardware were installed, the doors hung, and then the movement and dial installed. Now the clock was ready for packing. Before being packed, the finished clock underwent a final inspection, and the inspector had to sign their name on it. The chime rods were secured, the glasses washed, and the entire clock case was waxed; then the warranty was put on the clock and it was put in a bag. It went to the packing room where two people placed it in a box with foam inserts for protection. The weights and pendulum were placed in the box separately, and then the box was stapled closed and the clock was ready to be shipped. Included with each clock was a detailed brochure titled “Installation, Care and Maintenance” with instructions and diagrams that assisted customers on how to properly handle their new clock, such as how to unpack, set up, wind, adjust timing and chimes, care for the clock, and troubleshoot problems.21 It was not un-usual for a customer to call Trend and request to speak to the final clock inspector by name about their new clock.

Mary Baker, an eight-year Trend employee with six years of experience as a Finishing Room operator, ex-plained her job. She sprayed stains on the wooden cases and then applied sealer that sealed the stain, so it could be sanded without removing the stain. She noted that acquiring the necessary skill level took time and not ev-eryone could do the work. In her case, she required at

least a month before she was comfortable using a spray gun and handling the different stains and woods with the various case styles and sizes. Each wood behaved dif-ferently with each stain. For example, mahogany was the most complex to finish because it required two or three coats of stain plus sealer. Mahogany was the only wood that was hand-rubbed. After stain and sealer were applied on the case, it was sanded and ready for glazing, followed by application of two or three coats of lacquer.

Jenni Schaap, a six-year Trend employee, explained her job as movement installer. A newly arrived movement at Trend was sent to the movement room for testing. It was placed on a test stand, weights were hung on it, and it was run overnight. If it stopped running overnight, it was ex-amined to determine what was wrong and was corrected and then made sure it ran for 24 hours. Each movement was tested a minimum of 24 hours. After a movement was installed in the case, it was tested again.

Most of the movements came from Germany; they were triple chime (Westminster, St. Michael, and Whit-tington), single chime Westminster only, and occasional-ly tubular bell. The tubular bell movements were very ex-pensive at $600; however, they produced a richer, deeper sound than the rod chimes.

Schaap noted that after six years, she could easily iden-tify a problem movement as she was installing it in the clock, and if she could not easily correct the problem, she sent it to the repair room and replaced it with an-other tested movement. The repair shop diagnosed and repaired the movement. All of the movements had a one-year factory warranty at the time of purchase as stated in the manual included with the clock.

Tom van Tamelen, plant manager, was interviewed about employees and teamwork. He commented that “ev-ery employee plays an important part of the final prod-uct,” and “every employee depends on his fellow employ-ees.” The attitude cultivated at Trend was that employees were not simply employees; they were craftsmen and the finished product was dependent on the skills of each in-dividual in the various stages of manufacture. He also said that “everybody is important—whether or not you have a thorough janitor affects whether you have a good product in the end;” “everybody plays an equally impor-tant role in producing a quality product;” and “foreman without workers cannot produce a product, and workers without a foreman cannot produce a product.”

Colonial and Trend typically used a common furni-ture-manufacturing practice: manufacture 100 cases of a clock model but only finish to order, resulting in many unfinished cases being stored in the factory. However, it was important to supply customers with the finish that they wanted. Trend offered 10-16 different case finishes, depending on the model.

Movements and DialsEarly Trend wall and mantel clocks used Schatz key-


wind mechanical movements. In the mid-1960s the company used mostly Urgos mechanical movements, and production was limited because Urgos only allot-ted Trend 100 movements per month. Later, most of the grandfather clocks used chain-wound Urgos triple-chime movements, but it also used Hermle grandfather move-ments in several lines. Lists of company movements from the late 1970s and early 1980s indicated that Trend pur-chased movements from Hermle, Kieninger, and Urgos. After Urgos went bankrupt in the late 1980s, the com-pany switched to Kieninger movements for a short time, but it began purchasing Hermle movements in 1992 after Howard Miller purchased Kieninger. In the early 1980s the company purchased some dials from Jackle (two types) and Fuze-On (12 types).22

ModelsInitially, Trend made mostly small mantel and wall

models along with various wood products; after World War II it added floor clocks to its line.

In the early 1960s Beatrice van Tamelen came up with Trend’s catchy sales phrase for its clocks: “Timepieces to Treasure” (Figure 20). It continued using this advertising phrase even after its purchase by Sligh. New York dealer, J & H Alexander Inc., published a 25th anniversary Trend catalog (1937-1962) that illustrated the company’s floor, mantel, and wall clocks.

The 1966 Trend catalog had the following product of-ferings:

• Twelve floor clocks with two movement options for each model

• Thirty-two wall, mantel, and shelf clocks with generally three movement options for each clock: mechanical, electric, or battery, and some had a barometer as a fourth option

• Two portable television cabinets. It noted that Trend clocks and accessories have a hand-

rubbed waxed finish. They were available in antique, cherry, walnut, pine, and antique bone with gold (10 per-cent extra) finishes. For an extra 10 percent the colors mustard, avocado, burgundy, Dutch blue, and antique bone with gold were available (Figures 5-10).

After its purchase by Sligh, Trend Clock Division devel-oped products for this niche category. The company used the following process to design new models:

• Discuss with sales representatives and dealers what was selling

• Examine furniture trends• Evaluate the competition’s offerings• Investigate the clock’s technical aspects. Trend determined price points, or low-, mid-, and

high-end prices that customers would pay for different features in the various markets. It avoided the low-end clock market, because Trend could not compete effec-tively with Howard Miller Clock Co. and its highly auto-mated manufacturing and finishing process.

The Trend Clock Division focused on the mid- to high-end price clock market. The company had great success with its popular hand-rubbed finish, because the clocks exhibited a rich looking visual appeal and smoother feel to the touch. If the Trend Clock Division priced its clocks competitively, their superior finish was an important sell-ing factor and their sales climbed each year. During the peak clock production periods of the late 1980s, Sligh manufactured 100-125 floor and 50-60 shelf clocks daily at the Zeeland plant.23

John Loomis commented on his work in the Trend Cus-tomer Service Group. He described receiving phone calls on various issues from customers, dealers, and salesmen; taking orders from dealers and salesmen; responding to and assisting with in-house plant requests and problems; and helping wherever help was needed. I joked to him that he wore many hats; he smiled and said, “We had a small staff so you had to jump in wherever needed.”24

In 1980 the company designed and marketed a special limited edition ornate mahogany case grandfather clock with various inlays and a nine-tube Urgos movement. It was called The Trend 100th Centennial Clock, numbered 100MW, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sligh Fur-niture Co. (Figure 21). Next, it introduced two additional specialty limited edition clocks. The first one was Gor-don van Tamelen 101MW limited edition mantel clock, designed by David Warren with a mahogany case and hand-rubbed finish, selected crotch mahogany veneers, custom-wrought brass, beveled glass, and polished brass triple-chime movement (Figure 22). The second one was Gerrit van Tamelen 102MW limited edition wall clock also with a mahogany case and hand-rubbed finish, ma-hogany veneers, beveled glass, and triple-chime move-ment. Both limited edition clocks were named after the Trend Clock Co. founders, and each clock contained a brochure about them and the clock’s features.

Following up the Centennial Clock’s success, addition-

Figure 20. Trend advertising slogan.


al lines were introduced during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1983 Trend Division introduced the Charles R. Sligh line with seven clock designs and high-end characteristics like the 100MW clock. In 1985 it launched the Legacy line with slightly lower prices but the same high-quality fin-ish. In 1990 it introduced a Centurian line,25 and in 1992 it introduced the Henry Ford Collection with the fol-lowing clocks: Jacob Eby, Joseph Doll, Thomas Harland, Simon Willard, William Gilbert, and Benjamin Morrill. Later, it offered a Bob Timberlake Collection26 and Old Salem Collection based on designs from Old Salem, NC.27

Trend Division made clocks under contract for many companies, including Bulova, Elgin, Ethan Allen, Hamil-ton, Seth Thomas, and Wanamaker. It slightly modified its standard cases and used different dials.28

Figure 21, right. Trend 100th Anniversary Clock, numbered 100MW.

Figure 22. Gordon van Tamelen limited edition bracket clock, numbered 100MW.


Another successful product line was the Premium Incentive Program, better known as Employee Service Awards. An employee could select an item out of an awards catalog. The company sold a number of mantel and shelf clocks, and General Motors Co. was one of its best customers.29

In the 1970s Trend annually published catalogs and supplements containing color photographs of its clocks with color backgrounds and decorative accessories. By the mid- to late-1970s Trend offered an extensive line of floor, wall, and mantel clocks, and later, old-timers, totaling 36-44 models. The old-timers’ designs were based on clas-sic nineteenth-century American and European clocks.

By 1984 its catalog offered 77 models. The 1970s catalogs bearing a distinctive blue logo were called “Trend Clocks by Sligh.” One undated catalog emphasized Trend’s fin-ishing process: hand-staining, hand-glazing, hand-wax-ing, and hand-rubbing. Figures 23-29 show a variety of its floor, wall, and shelf clocks.

Sligh catalogs from 1985 onward did not use the Trend name, but the catalogs were elaborate, had heavy covers, were printed on high-quality thick glossy paper, con-tained color photographs of the clocks.30 The company offered floor, wall, and mantel clocks. The Charles R. Sligh Collection was a separate catalog. Later, the Trend Clock Division’s catalog included a Sligh Clock Collec-

Figure 24. Sligh grandfather clock Model 0919-1-AN. Figure 25. Sligh Dorset. Figure 23. Sligh floor clock.


tion that contained theme clocks named after American cities, contemporary designs, and traditional nineteenth-century American tall clock designs, built-in curio cabi-net clocks, and a chinoiserie design clock. An undated Sligh catalog illustrated the new Style Trend line noting its “smartly designed aesthetically appealing clocks.” The line contained a mixture of contemporary, mission, and traditional designs with modern look.

Conclusion The Trend Clock Co. story illustrated the van Tamelen

family’s perseverance and dedication to the idea that they could design, manufacture, and market their own line of clocks. They founded their company as the country was coming out of its worst Depression in many years, im-mediately became involved in World War II, and faced the declining interest in mechanically driven clocks. The company survived against these odds and slowly became successful in selling its clocks around the country. During the 1960s grandfather clocks became popular as people bought houses, remembered their grandparents’ clocks, and wanted one for their house, so more companies en-tered the market.

It became even more difficult to survive, so Trend Clock Inc. sought a larger and better financed partner. Chris Den Herder, Colonial Manufacturing Co. president, was inter-ested in acquiring Trend, but the board of directors reject-ed the deal, so Robert “Bob” Sligh, Sligh Furniture Co. president, seized the opportunity to acquire Trend and enter the growing clock market with an existing product line and a known market presence. Sligh had greater fi-

Figure 26. Sligh large wall clock.

Figure 27. Sligh bracket clock.


nancial resources for expanding manufacturing capacity, supplying rough cut lumber to the Trend clock factory for casemaking, and supporting more aggressive adver-tising and sales activities in the increasingly competitive marketplace. Trend and Sligh rode the grandfather clock popularity boom through the 1970s and into the 1990s and became one of the three major clock manufacturers with Howard Miller and Ridgeway after Colonial ceased production in 1985. As the grandfather market began de-clining, clock sales fell off, and the market became price conscious, Sligh was forced to close its clock-making op-erations. The combined Trend and Sligh clock operations in Zeeland had a 67-year life span from 1937 to 2004.

AcknowledgmentsI want to thank Chris Den Herder, Steve DeYoung,

Robert Engels, Catherine Jung, John Loomis, Matthew Rothert, Rob Sligh, Tom van Tamelen, Sara van Lente, Dekker Huis/Zeeland Historical Museum, Grand Rapids Public Library, Herrick District Library in Holland, MI, Holland Museum in Holland, MI, and Howard Miller Public Library in Zeeland, MI.

References and Notes1. Robert Sligh (former president of Sligh Furniture

Co.), in an interview with the author, September 2011.Beginning in the late 1960s grandfather clock pro-

duction surged; during the 1970s numerous companies were producing grandfather clocks, including Colonial, Daneker, Hershede, Howard Miller, Hubbell, Pearl, and Ridgeway. However, starting in the late 1980s grandfather clock sales began dropping off as people stopped buying them, and companies were purchased by others or folded one by one. For example, Colonial purchased Molyneux in 1977 and eventually closed in 1985. Daneker was in business from 1956 to 1973, and H. L. Hubbell was in

business in the early 1980s. In 2005 Howard Miller Clock Co. purchased Ridgeway. Today, Howard Miller Clock Co. is the only remaining company that manufactures grandfather clocks.

2. David Saunders, “Zeeland Ticking to the Beat of Clock Companies,” Holland Sentinel (Holland, MI), Janu-ary 24, 1981.

3. Lauxens Hammond’s clock patents include the fol-lowing: “Clock US RE15299,” Google Patents, accessed February 22, 2016, http://www.google.com/patents/USRE15299; “Alternating current clock US 1719805,” Google Patents, accessed February 22, 2016, www.google.com/patents/US1719805; and “Alternating current clock US 17197912,” Google Patents, accessed February 22, 2016, www.google.com/patents/US1797912. Most of the Ham-mond electric clock movements supplied to Trend noted “US RE15299 & US 1719805” and sometimes noted “pat-ents pending.” Jan van Tamelen had a contact at Ham-mond who helped arrange the purchase of the move-ments.

4. Saunders, “Zeeland Ticking to the Beat.”5. Case Karsten, “Trend Clock 38 Carlton,” Zee-

lander Yesterday, Zeeland Record (Zeeland, MI), No-vember 14, 1996. Gordon van Tamelen (cofounder of Trend Clocks Inc.), in an interview with Steve De- Young, April 1985.

6. The State of Michigan Corporation Division con-firmed Trend Clock Inc., but it had no copies of paperwork. Holland Museum in Holland, MI, had copies of the Trend Clock Inc. Articles of Incorporation that were filed in 1948. Gordon van Tamelen in an interview with Steve De- Young. Gordon and Melvin worked well together in the factory; they had facing desks in the office. In 1962 Mel-vin S. Boonstra sold his share to Gordon van Tamelen to purchase Zeeland Wood Turning.

7. Thomas van Tamelen (former Trend officer), in an

Figure 28. Sligh mantel clock.


interview with the author, March 2012. After he retired, Gerrit van Tamelen worked in a small

shop attached to the factory where he designed and built a “folding” row boat. He completed one and had cutout materials for two more boats. He was working on a second one when he passed away in July 1957 at age 75. Gordon van Tamelen completed the second boat and Thomas, Gerrit’s grandson, still has it.

8. “Noting Trend Clock Co. Clock Display at Zeeland State Bank,” Zeeland Record, February 27, 1958.

9. The January 21, 1965, issue of Furniture World con-tained a three-page article on Trend that featured Gordon and Beatrice van Tamelen and photographs of their op-erations. Trend reprinted this and used it as a sales pro-motion.

10. Robert “Rob” Sligh (former Sligh Furniture Co. president), in an interview with the author, October 2012. As part of Sligh’s agreement to purchase Trend, Gordon van Tamelen and Beatrice van Tamelen received five-year employment contracts. Michigan Department of Licens-ing and Regulatory Affairs, accessed February 22, 2016,

http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/sr_corp.asp. 11. Thomas van Tamelen (former Trend officer), in an

interview with the author, March 2012. Thomas “Tom” van Tamelen started working in the Trend Clock Co. factory at age 12, sweeping the floor on Saturday morn-ings. He eventually joined the clock business and worked at various jobs. In April 1970 he became assistant plant manager and was promoted to plant manager in August of that same year. Eventually, he became vice president of Operations for Clock Production & Development.

12. “Time Pieces to Treasure,” Furniture World, Vol. 172, No. 25 (January 21, 1965). The article does not have page numbers.

13. “100th Anniversary Sligh Furniture,” Zeeland Re-cord, 1980. This special insert in the newspaper was an advertisement.

14. Saunders, “Zeeland Ticking to the Beat.” Zeeland, MI, was a small city and home to three major clock-mak-ing companies, Colonial Manufacturing, Trend Sligh, and Howard Miller.

15. “Robert Lewis ‘Bob’ Sligh,” Obituary, Holland Senti-

Figure 29. Grouping of Trend electric clocks.


nel, May 27, 2012. 16. Sligh Furniture Co. news release and company let-

ter from company president Robert Sligh, July 22, 2005.17. Karsten, “Trend Clock 38 Carlton.” Gor-

don van Tamelen (cofounder of Trend Clocks Inc.), in an interview with Steve De- Young, April 1985.

18. Thomas van Tamelen (former Trend officer), in an interview with the author, March 2012.

19. “100th Anniversary Sligh Furniture,” Zeeland Re-cord.

20. “Sligh Furniture Plans Move to New Holland Fac-tory,” Zeeland Record, October 18, 1979. “Asks Hearing on Homocide Death Charge,” Zeeland Record, March 13, 1983. Thomas van Tamelen (former Trend officer), in an interview with the author, March 2012.

Manufacturing clocks in a multifloor factory did not have the perceived disadvantage if all the operations were properly arranged. Conventional industrial engineering manufacturing work flow process would recommend lay-ing out the entire operation on one level.

21. Included with each clock was a detailed brochure titled “Installation, Care and Maintenance” with instruc-tions and diagrams that assisted customers on how to properly handle their new clock, such as how to unpack, set up, wind, adjust timing and chimes, care for the clock, and troubleshoot problems. The manual I had in my pos-session did not list any authors nor was it dated but it was written for Trend Clocks by Sligh.

22. Trend Clock Co. lists of purchased movements and

dials, circa 1980. Thomas van Tamelen (former Trend of-ficer), in an interview with the author, March 2012.

23. Bob Engels (former Trend customer support em-ployee), in an interview with the author, March 2012.

24. John Loomis (Trend customer support employee from 1987 to 1990), in an interview with the author, March 2012.

25. Ibid.26. Bob Timberlake was an artist and designer.27. I do not have copies of these catalogs to provide

photographs of the clocks.28. Thomas van Tamelen (former Trend officer), in an

interview with the author, March 2012. 29. Bob Engels (former Trend customer support em-

ployee), in an interview with the author, March 2012. 30. The Sligh catalogs also were typically three-hole

punched, so they could fit in a binder.

About the Author Andy Dervan joined the NAWCC in 1997 and found

clock collecting fascinating. He has found researching the histories of various makers and companies as challenging and exciting as collecting. His principal collecting inter-est is weight-driven clocks from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

He recently retired from DuPont Performance Coat-ings and spends some of his free time writing articles for the Watch & Clock Bulletin and volunteering at Henry Ford Museum and a local animal shelter.

The Kentucky International Convention Center221 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202

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