Monday, April 2, 2012

Brand new you're retro - Clock company takes my home town's name in vain

I'd like to say I wasn't taken in by it, but I was taken in by it. On the second picture below of the clock I scored at a charity shop in Cannock, you can see the name 'Towcester Clock Works' on the dial. Now, I'd never heard of a clock manufacturer in Towcester, but given that my knowledge of its history extended to the Romans and Prince Rupert, I was prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt and check my history online later.

Only to find that TCW is a brand name for a retro-style clock brand based in Newport Pagnell invoking Towcester as some token of early-to-mid twentieth century authenticity.

Now, I might make a cheap shot here about my childhood home being the Town That Time Forgot, but I'm not sure about how I feel about it being appropriated in this way. By printing the lie, are we opening up a vein of alternate history which sees Towcester as a clock-making centre, the town of a thousand ticks? Or are we just cheapening what really was?




















2 comments:

  1. As nothing ever disappears from the Internet - the world now knows the truth for all time thanks to you!

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  2. Apologies - I accidentally deleted a nice comment from someone on this post. If that's you - sorry once again!

    ReplyDelete