‘Cadillac’ Clock

Mandtler Clock no. 252, 1899 (MC0225)

This clock was donated to Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, by the Estate of Maria Foth in 2015.

According to the depositor, Helen Peters, the clock once belonged to her maternal great-grandparents (Driedigers) and was handed down to her mother’s cousin, Maria Foth (1918–2014), who brought it to Canada from Russia (probably the Molotschna Colony, Russian Empire, now Ukraine) in the 1940s. Maria wrote a book, Beyond the Border: Maria’s Miraculous Pilgrimage, in 1981, detailing her experiences during the Second World War and her immigration to Canada. She attended the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and went on to teach throughout Canada, Austria, Russia, Germany, and Switzerland. She settled in St. Catharines, Ontario.

The clock was in working order until a few years before Maria's death in 2014.

This is called the 'Cadillac Clock' because it has almost every function a Mennonite clock could have (three hands, bell, alarm, and calendar functions), making it very expensive.

 

  • Description Thirty-hour wall clock with pendulum and weight-driven movement, made by Gerhard Mandtler (1855–1930) in Lindenau, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), in 1899, serial number 252. Arched dial is green with a single yellow border around the perimeter and running across the arch. Arch has a yellow hand-painted decorative scroll in the centre, and the numbers '19' and '05' painted on either side. Spandrels are gold scroll decals with red centres. Black chapter ring with yellow Roman numerals, white inner ring with Arabic numerals for the calendar, and white outer ring marking the quarter hour. Three hands; bell, alarm, and calendar functions; chain drive; six weights.

  • Mennonite Clock Number MC0225

  • Object Name Mandtler Clock

  • Serial Number 252

  • Mennonite Heritage Village Accession Number 2015.30.1

  • Date Created 1899

  • Maker Gerhard Mandtler (1855–1930)

  • Location Made Lindenau, Molotschna Colony, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)

  • Other Markings 1899 252 GM (stamped on mechanism); GM (stamped on back of face)

  • Movement Type Iron plate

  • Functions Bell; Alarm; Calendar

  • Owner Mennonite Heritage Village

  • Publications ‘Maria Foth,’ Mennonite Brethren Herald, http://mbherald.com/obituaries/maria-foth/ (accessed December 24, 2016).

    Maria Foth, Beyond the Border: Maria's Miraculous Pilgrimage (Burlington, ON: G. R. Welch), 1981.

  • Notes All weights are accounted for, but the clock was photographed without one.

 

This clock has almost all the functions that were available in Mennonite-made clocks, thus its nickname.