The 1858 Pulls into the Depot!

This is a bit of shameless self-promotion ; )

I am very proud to finally announce the release of the Oberlin Watch Company's 1858!

The 1858 is a hand-winding watch designed to bridge a few different ideas and stories. 

So, it is completely true that there was a pocket chronograph produced by an assembler in Besançon, France way back in the day -

But the "Oberlin" on that watch dial denoted the Oberlin Pharmaceutical Company, also French. The watches were produced to give as promotional gifts to pharmacists (that's chemists on the other side of the pond), and doctors. Today their lucky if they get post-it-note pads and disposable pens ; )

So suffice it to say, there never actually was an Oberlin Watch Company...until now.

The 1858 is not only a "chapeau!" to the original Oberlin Pharmaceutical Company, it is also a "tip of the hat" to an event that happened in (and near) my hometown of Oberlin, Ohio. The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. 

The short part of this story is that Oberlin was one of the last depots on the Underground Railroad, and also fervently abolitionist. John Price had lived as a slave and managed to escape and made his way to Oberlin, where he had been living for (it is said) 2 years. The law in the US at that time allowed for slave owners to enlist marshals and other officers to help them recapture "fugitive" slaves. John Price was lured to the outskirts of town where he was captured. His captors realizing that they were not going to get a lot of support and understanding in Oberlin, took Mr. Price to Wellington (the next nearest town with a rail station), and hid out in a hotel there. 

And it is here where the story takes a turn that we in Oberlin have always been proud of. We proved that you very often have more friends than you realize. A not insignificant number of men made their way to Wellington where they were joined by like-minded folks in that community. They tried to reason with Price's captors to no avail, and ultimately found him hidden in the hotel's attic. They brought him back to Oberlin where he was hidden in the home of a future Oberlin College president before being taken to Canada, the final stop on the Underground Railroad.

So that's pat one - tune in tomorrow for part 2, and more details on the watch itself!