Of Clocks and Clockmakers

Our pendulum clock died shortly before Christmas. Its mechanical heartbeat ceased. Its chimes that resounded at the top and bottom of the hour were silenced.

The absence of a clock ticking in the house was unsettling. Not to mention that my husband, who can become minutely focused on any project at hand, would lose all track of time.

We knew we wanted another pendulum clock, preferably old and preferably oak. A search of Duluth antique stores turned up nothing. An effort to find "the Clock Man," a dealer who used to have a nice collection of clocks at Father Time, failed.

In our effort, we found Al Hazebroek, who has cleaned and repaired clocks for more than 30 years. He and his wife are downsizing. He invited us to his home to look at some clocks with which he was willing to part.

We liked several, but chose this old schoolhouse clock. It was made by a Duluth man named Wittala or Wuotala, according to Al. I googled Duluth clockmakers by those names and got a hit for a John Leonard Wuotila. His obituary said he inspected arriving foreign ships as a plant protection and quarantine worker for the USDA. And, among many other things, he enjoyed making clocks.

It has taken us a while to get used to our new clock's tick and chime. It's of much better quality than the one it replaced. And I really like the fact that it's locally made.