Advertising, Advertising! Promoting Clocks in the 20th Century

The huge numbers of clocks produced on the assembly line could be marketed thanks to modern sales methods. Major Black Forest companies created their own company profile with a trademark. Also, clocks were found to be a good publicity medium because an advertisement seen upon reading the time would remain firmly embedded in the mind of the beholder.

In addition to printed materials, the clock companies would provid window decorations. Posters and advertisements as well as radio and television advertising promoted sales, as did elaborate packaging design.
   
Leading major companies tried to convey certain messages with their trademarks. Kienzle, for example, initially advertised with the flywheel, the symbol of the railway, the most modern technology of those times. As from the 1920’s, a stylized signature made to look like handwriting showed that the management of the company stood behind its good name. Forty years later, the logo was replaced by more staid and modern capital letters.