The history of the Ridgeway grandfather clock spans many years. This clock manufacturing company was founded in 1920s America, when the average yearly wage was $1,236 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 100. After several years, World War I had ended, and America was attempting to regain its momentum.
The Gravely Furniture Company first began producing these well-known clocks. The Gravely Furniture Company set men and women to work establishing a characteristic that became the Hallmark of the Ridgeway grandfather clock throughout the course of the following four decades, as the nation experienced rise in incomes and life expectancy.
The Gravely Furniture Company concentrated only on their Ridgeway clocks in the 1960s.
The U.S. population had doubled since the business had opened its doors by the 1980s. While several fads were in vogue among teenagers at the time, their parents were getting sentimental. For many, the modern art that first gained popularity in the 1960s was becoming dated. The Gravely Furniture Company presented a fantastic chance for buyers due to the clearly recognized art of the past.
When Pulaski Furniture Corporation acquired Gravely in 1985, they expanded their collection of home furniture by including the Ridgeway grandfather clock. Annual revenues in the first year of combined sales were in excess of $90 million.
In order to complement and improve the visual experience of owning one of America’s finest grandfather clocks, Pulaski was able to sell the Ridgeway clocks with curios and other furnishings.
Before Ridgeway would change hands once more, nineteen years would pass. Pulaski concentrated on consumer-driven home goods as a result of declining sales in the 1990s and early 2000s. Unfortunately, the Ridgeway clock did not sell well at that time, and new management at Pulaski tried to find Ridgeway a buyer.
The purchaser was the Michigan-based Howard Miller Clock Company. This business had a similar background and a passion for Ridgeway’s history and its clocks. Like Gravely, they started creating clocks in the 1920s and have kept up the practice ever since. Howard Miller, in contrast to Gravely, created and offered a variety of clocks that had little in common with grandfather clocks. They did, however, put a lot of emphasis on these older-style floor clocks by the 1960s.
Around the same period, Howard Miller would also buy German-made Kieninger clocks. With a facility located close to the German Black Forest, Kieninger started supplying top-notch clock movements for the Ridgeway brand.
Howard Miller allowed Ridgeway to grow under its own identity and with strong American history because of his dedication to the Ridgeway legacy and the connection to German workmanship.
Ridgeway grandfather clocks continue to exude Old World elegance as they steadily get closer to their 100th birthday.
Although much has changed since Gravely Furniture created the first Ridgeway grandfather clock, this new generation of clocks nevertheless pays attention to the same timeless characteristics. These authentically American timepieces provide characteristics that no other manufacturer does, such as a clock that never has to be wound while maintaining the same appearance as only the greatest grandfather clocks. Additionally, American consumers may be interested in purchasing Ridgeway grandfather clocks with patriotic chimes.
Ridgeway still has American shareholders and manufactures its clocks in American factories.