WINKLER'S JEWELRY STORE CLOCK, 1915
Vicinity of 717 Minnesota Avenue
Seth Thomas Clock Co.
Kansas City, Kansas Historic Landmark: December 27, 1990
WINKLER'S JEWELRY STORE CLOCK, 1915
Vicinity of 717 Minnesota Avenue
Seth Thomas Clock Co.
Kansas City, Kansas Historic Landmark: December 27, 1990
The clock in front of Winkler's Jewelry Store has been a familiar landmark on Minnesota
Avenue in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, for over 75 years. The business whose street front it
graced was one of the oldest remaining business establishments in the city, its ownership
extending through four generations of the Winkler family. Erected as Kansas City, Kansas, was
entering its period of greatest prosperity, the clock epitomized the ideals of the City Beautiful
movement as they were reflected even in such a seemingly mundane object as a piece of
commercial street furniture.
Frank M. Winkler was born in Falkenau, Germany, on October 17, 1855. Trained as a
watchmaker, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 18. As a skilled craftsman he
reportedly had little difficulty in finding employment. After a brief stay in New York, he worked in
Fort Worth, Texas, and St. Joseph, Missouri, before arriving in Kansas City. Here he worked for
the M. B. Wright Jewelry Company at 7th and Main in Kansas City, Missouri.
In October of 1889, the 34-year-old Winkler opened his own business at 532 Minnesota
Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. He resided with his wife Elizabeth at 507 Dugarro Avenue (the
present Thompson Street on Strawberry Hill), within walking distance of his store. The Winklers
had three sons, Frank Jr., Alfred, and Harry M., all of whom followed their father into the jewelry
business.
When Frank Winkler first opened his business, both Kansas Citys were in the midst of a
major building boom. In Kansas City, Kansas, the new center of commercial development was at
the intersection of 6th Street and Minnesota Avenue, where each of the four corners was graced
by a major new building. Winkler's first location was thus at the heart of the city's expanding
business community.
The boom died with the Panic of 1893, but Winkler's slowly grew and prospered. As the
economy revived in the early 1900s, development in the downtown continued to expand
westward along the Avenue toward 10th Street. By 1912, Winkler's had moved west as well, to
638 Minnesota Avenue. Harry was employed as a watchmaker his father's downtown store,
while Alfred managed a second store at 707 Central Avenue and Frank Jr. had established his
own business in Parsons, Kansas. (The Central Avenue store would continue at various
locations until the late 1930s, when Alfred went into business as an optometrist.)
In 1914, Frank Winkler purchased a large street clock from the Seth Thomas Company
to place in front of his store on Minnesota Avenue, thereby advertising more effectively than any
sign could the firm's business of watchmaking and repair. The delivery and installation of the
clock apparently did not take place until early in the following year. The City’s Building
Inspector’s Record noted building permit no. 817 for a “post clock” issued to F. Winkler on March
25, 1915. The permit fee was a whole $.50.
Such clocks were not uncommon on American streets in this period, and were generally
associated with businesses such as Winkler's. Clocks in the towers of public buildings had been
common for centuries, and banks and other large commercial enterprises sometimes placed
clocks on their facades, often projecting from a corner (Marshall Field's in Chicago springs to
mind), but in turn-of-the-century America the freestanding clock on the public sidewalk,
combining subtle advertising with public amenity, was as much the mark of the jeweler and
watchmaker as three gold globes were of the pawn shop.
The Seth Thomas clock purchased by Winkler was a particularly handsome example of
the type. In its details, which were Classical in derivation, and in its basic concept of an
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attractively designed public or quasi-public fixture raised beyond crude utility to a presumably
higher standard of taste, it reflected the precepts of the City Beautiful movement in the United
States. Growing out of the wide public impact of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the City
Beautiful movement aimed at improving the appearance and livability of American cities. At its
best, the movement was allied with the wave of social and political reform then underway in many
communities (the adoption of the city commission form of government in Kansas City, Kansas in
1910 being one example). But even when concerned primarily with appearance and aesthetics,
the movement had lasting impact.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the movement led to the development of one of the finest park
and boulevard systems in the country, as well as the construction of the magnificent Union
Station. In Kansas City, Kansas, the movement (or its concepts) produced an attempt to develop
a similar park and boulevard system (also designed by George E. Kessler), the construction of a
new city hall, and the development of other public amenities such as the Armourdale Community
Center and swimming pool. Sometimes forgotten is the fact that these public improvements, park
development in particular, often served several different public purposes, including slum
clearance; this was the case with Penn Valley Park in Kansas City, Missouri and St. Margaret's
Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
In the physical development that grew out of the City Beautiful movement, the NeoClassical style that had dominated the Chicago fair was often a unifying aesthetic factor. From
the largest public buildings to the detailing of railings, park benches, and lamp poles, the
language of Classicism provided stylistic continuity. In Kansas City, Kansas, for example, both
the street lights in Westheight Manor and the more elaborate, 5-globed fixtures found in parts of
downtown were Neo-Classical in concept, with the basic form of the shaft being treated as a
fluted column. It is therefore not surprising to find the same design vocabulary employed in
Winkler's clock, which was a very public piece of street furniture despite its private ownership.
In design, the vertical height of the cast iron clock was broken into more or less equal
thirds. The bottom third was a tall, rectangular base or plinth. Above that was a short column
with a Composite capital, almost too slender visually for the weight above it. The upper third was
the clock itself. This took the form of a large globe with four round clock faces spaced
equidistantly around it. The globe was topped with a large, elaborate finial, somewhat Victorian
in character, and ornamented with other decorative elements, all executed in cast iron. Above
each clock face was an ornamental crest with a flat face that may originally have borne lettering,
possibly with the store's name. Where the edge of each clock face touched the globe, and linking
the clock faces at their midpoints, were four small cartouches in the form of sunflowers. Perhaps
the most intriguing ornamental features were set on the lower quarters of the globe directly below
the sunflowers. Here four projecting lion heads were framed within roundels, and each bore
within its mouth a large, pendant ring. Originally a sign with "F. M. Winkler" hung from these
rings, adding considerable three-dimensional flair to the design.
The original coloring of the clock is uncertain. At the time of its erection, cast iron lamp
poles and similar fixtures were often painted dark green, possibly in imitation of aged bronze. In
the 1950s, the Winkler's clock was painted silver with a blue base, and repainted to the present
black at the time of the construction of the Center City mall. It is possible that some of the
ornamental features were originally picked out in gilt paint, although a Victorian-era, multi-colored
paint application would have been contrary to the stricter aesthetic standards of the period.
As far as is known, Winkler's clock was the only one of its kind ever to grace the streets
of Kansas City, Kansas. For 16 years after its erection it stood in the 600 block of Minnesota
Avenue. Following the end of World War I, the business was renamed F. Winkler and Son,
Jewelers, as Harry became a full partner with his father. By the mid 1920s, Harry M. Winkler was
managing the firm while Frank was at least semi-retired, although he continued to be listed in the
city directory as a jeweler and salesman with the store.
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Frank M. Winkler died on October 14, 1930, and shortly thereafter Harry moved the store
for the second time, further west to 722 Minnesota Avenue. The clock, now firmly identified with
the store, was moved as well. In 1940, Harry M. Winkler suddenly died, and his son Harry J.
Winkler (born September 27, 1918) became the third generation to own and manage Winkler's
Jewelers. The business was severely damaged by a fire which swept through the store one early
morning in 1948, but there was little thought of closing. Instead, Harry J. Winkler opened in
temporary quarters across the street at 713 Minnesota while the store was being repaired and
redecorated. The clock stood as before.
By the late 1950s, downtown Kansas City, Kansas was entering a long, slow decline
similar to that experienced by many other downtowns across the country. Decline was not part of
Winkler's image, however. In 1958 the store was moved once again, to a remodeled building on
the south side of the street at 717 Minnesota Avenue, and the clock reached its present location.
In 1961, Winkler's was one of the first downtown stores to take advantage of surburbanization,
opening a second store in the new Wyandotte Plaza shopping center at 78th and State while at
the same time expanding the Minnesota Avenue store, making additional room for all phases of
the business.
The 100th anniversary of Winkler's Jewelers and the 75th anniversary of the clock came
in 1989. By that time, retail business in downtown had all but ceased, and although Winkler's still
enjoyed a reasonable volume of trade, the greater portion of the business now rested with the
suburban store. Moreover, several long-time employees of the downtown store were nearing
retirement age. Harry J. Winkler was now chairman of the board of Winkler's Jewelers and semiretired, while his daughter, Nancy Winkler Fortier, continued as company president, the fourth
generation to manage the business. In June of 1990 it was announced that the downtown store
would be closed on July 20, after 101 years of service to the community.
Winkler's clock remains. In May of 1972 the clock was sold to the City by Harry J.
Winkler for the sum of $1.00. A condition of the sale was that the clock never be moved more
than twenty feet from its present location. The clock was subsequently renovated as part of the
Center City mall project, including conversion to electricity (thus ending 58 years of daily
winding). This change in ownership insures that the clock may continue to be a valued part of
the downtown streetscape. Although such clocks were once fairly common in larger cities,
Winkler's clock now stands alone in the metropolitan area, the only survivor of its kind. As
survivor, as historic reminder, and as architectural artifact, its preservation would appear to be a
matter of legitimate community concern.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
anonymous. "Jewelers celebrates 100 years." The Kansas City Kansan, October 22, 1989: 4B.
Bill of Sale, Harry J. Winkler to the City of Kansas City, Kansas, dated May 18, 1972.
City directories for Kansas City, Kansas, 1887-88 et seq.
Friskel, Bob. "Winkler's leaving downtown." The Kansas City Kansan, June 26, 1990: 1.
Hoffmann, Donald. "Odd streetfellows." The Kansas City Star, September 28, 1980.
Kansas City, Kansas Building Inspector’s Record, Vol. 1, Feb. 11, 1914 to Jan. 31, 1919.
Musil, Jerry. "Harry J. Winkler." The Kansas City Kansan, June 6, 1965.
Obituary, Frank Winkler. The Kansas City Kansan, October 14, 1930: 1.
Sharp, John. "Nostalgic Touch Planned For Redesigned Avenue." The Kansas City Kansan,
July 23, 1971.
Wilson, William H. The City Beautiful Movement.
University Press, 1989.
Baltimore and London:
Johns Hopkins
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