A tick tock tribute to Jim Connell
A lover of clocks and inventor of the salt & vinegar chip
Jim Connell was the most recognized and respected expert on Canadian clocks.
The late, great Jim Connell was without a doubt the most recognized and respected expert on Canadian clocks. He was also a man who was more than willing to share his knowledge with anyone who was interested.
A little over a year ago I was invited to give a talk about Jim at a meeting of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors (NAWCC). It was an honour and the talk was really more of a tribute to someone who was my friend and mentor for over 40 years, someone who guided me as I built my own rare Canadian clock collection.
So much has been said of Jim Connell and his contributions to Canadian horology (the study of time and time pieces). He was a star fellow of the NAWCC, a former National Director recognized for his significant contributions to the goals and interests of the association. He also wrote two books and a price guide on Canadian clocks. As Ethan Miller, co-owner of Miller & Miller Auctions, acknowledges, “Jim’s books are considered to be the collectors’ ‘bibles’.”
Jim Connell wrote two books and a price guide on Canadian clocks. The books are considered to be the Canadian clock collectors’ ‘bibles’.
Jim was also a past chair of the NAWCC’s Chapter 33 in Toronto and a member of the Wooden Works Chapter. He was also the chief organizer of Pequegnat clock displays at the Agricultural Museum in Milton, the Canada Clock Company and Hamilton Clock Company displays at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto, and a supporter of the Canadian Clock Museum in Deep River, Ontario. To put it mildly, Jim was an enthusiastic and devoted promoter of Canadian clocks.
But there were other fascinating aspects to the man as well. As a chemical engineer working for Griffith Laboratories in the 1960s, Jim was involved with a joint venture in the UK where he developed the first salt & vinegar potato chips. He eventually invented other unique flavours and rose to become a senior executive with Griffith.
Jim didn’t just know clocks, he was also extremely talented at repairing their movements and cases. He also employed those skills to become a master woodworker in his own right, maintaining a small shop in his basement. My wife Janice and I are proud to own a number of his small round tables and a variety of his unique bowls.
I first met Jim at his house, which was more like a museum. It was the mid-‘70s and I had just been introduced to clock collecting. Jim and his wife Marilyn quickly became close friends despite our almost 25-year age difference.
We shared many fond moments over the years, some clock related, but many not. For much of that time Jim had both the knowledge and the means that I lacked, but he always freely shared whatever he knew. As his interest in building his own collection decreased, his help and advice to me increased as I built mine. While I managed to put together a nice little collection of Canada Clock Company clocks and Hamilton Clock Company models, my interest eventually turned to rare Canadian grandfather clocks, as well as wall and bracket clocks (like the Hanna, Orkney, Savage, Post, and Cheney). Many a time Jim passed a lead on to me, often helping to inspect a prospective purchase. Together we shared a love of clocks and enjoyed the stories that went along with them. Like the one that got away, or the one Jim always coveted when he came to visit.
Gord Gibbins holds the Jordan Post movement found and authenticated by the late Jim Connell.
Going back to the early 1980s when Jim was a senior executive and I was a young father of two working to cut out a career, picture us at a Waddington's clock auction in Toronto sitting together as we both bid on a gorgeous Savage grandfather.
At $1,400 Jim turned to me and said, "Gord, make one more bid and it’s yours." Of course, I froze, Jim got the clock and I had to admire it at his house for the next 40 years, although I always threatened to steal it.
Years later when I was in my late 50s, a Joseph Petit Clare bracket clock came up at another Waddington’s auction. Jim alerted me and then came along to the preview to offer his advice. That one didn’t get away. Come auction night it was mine. (Recently, another one sold in London, England for roughly $30,000.)
Joseph Petit Clare bracket clock – the one that didn’t get away.
A few years later we were both at an auction of a Twiss Tower clock, certainly a rare item. Jim was there to bid on behalf of the Canadian Clock Museum. Hence, I initially didn't bid. But Jim soon turned to me to say the clock had exceeded his authorized limit. That was my cue. I started bidding. Before long, Jim was helping me load it into my SUV. Who knows, perhaps the Museum will get it one day.
Twiss Tower clock, which Gord still owns.
Jim always had a keen eye. And I always wanted to own an early Ontario clock. He was most impressed with his Charles Clinkunbroomer (York) clock with a face made from melted pennies. I was eventually able to buy that clock after Jim dispersed his collection through Miller & Miller Auctions and I later added the Jordan Post movement he found and authenticated.
An early Ontario Charles Clinkunbroomer clock.
But what about the one he coveted – my Hamilton Clock Company ‘Simpson’ model, which to my knowledge is the only one known? My wife would always kid Jim when he and Marilyn visited for the weekend. "Jim,” she’d say, “I put it up high so we won't have to check your pockets".
The ‘Simpson’, made by the Hamilton Clock Company and the only one known to exist.
Jim died on August 31, 2018, a week before his 94th birthday. I'll always treasure the stories and memories we shared. He was both a friend and my mentor. Time spent with Jim was time well spent.
By Gord Gibbins, Quinte Timekeepers (Chapter119), Past President Chapter 33
Photos Courtesy of Gord Gibbins.
A memorable man
Jim Connell was a fascinating man with a brilliant mind and an understated presence.
His home – or his museum – as it came to be known, was a clock lover’s dream. His collection was organized like pieces to a lifelong puzzle. His tiny wartime bungalow in the heart of Toronto was an illusion that concealed Canada’s most important collection of Canadian clocks. It also served as a metaphor for his incredible modesty. Anything he needed to prove was proven perfectly in his books. That’s how Jim left his mark.
Miller & Miller has been honoured to have sold some of Jim’s clocks over the years, including a rare C.1820s M.Cheney Office Clock, which sold for $11,210 at our October 2017 auction.
This rare C.1820s M.Cheney Office Clock from the Jim Connell collection sold for $11,210 at Miller & Miller’s October 2017 auction.
Jim was also a man with an inquiring mind, evidenced by his invention of the salt & vinegar chip. It was that sort of confidence, that same kind of questioning reality, that led him to write three books and uncover so much clock history that would otherwise have been lost forever.
Whenever Jim would approach an important clock in his collection it was obvious because he would clear his throat and stand a little straighter than usual. But it was how he spoke that made the delivery so effective. Never a misspent word, just careful, honest, well-chosen words. And he spoke exactly like he wrote. He was humble and meek, yet commanded respect in every way imaginable.
By Ethan Miller
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