| Posted July 27, 2010 |
“I would like to buy a Herman Miller grandfather clock, or do I mean one of the Howard Miller grandfather clocks? I am sorry, I know the two names don’t have anything to do with one another, one, Herman Miller, making high quality furniture mostly for offices, and the other, Howard Miller, known mostly for their grandfather clocks, mantle clocks and wall clocks. Sorry I confused the two, now which is which again.”
The above dramatization between Herman Miller Clocks and Howard Miller Clocks may seem a bit exaggerated, but not by much, and we have had thousands of similar or derivative conversations with grandfather clocks shoppers in particular.
Howard Miller was the son of Herman Miller. Howard Miller joined the Herman Miller company, and as we understand it, was drawn early on into fusing the beauty of fine wood furniture and clock mechanisms. We have seen Herman Miller Grandfather Clocks, Herman Miller Mantle Clocks, and Herman Miller Wall Clocks. The Herman Miller Clocks were made with electric, early battery, and winding mechanisms. We have one special very early Herman Miller Mantle Clock and Barometer and a thermometer, in a highly unusual wood case that was likely made in the 1920s. We have in the inventory of our retail stores Herman Miller Mantel Clocks and Wall Clocks, including a Herman Miller Banjo Clock.
As a young man, Howard Miller left his father’s well known and then well established Herman Miller Company, and opened up the Howard Miller Clock Company with a headquarters and manufacturing facility literally just across the street in Zeeland, Michigan, where the two companies are still headquartered and located today. Both individuals have passed on, but family involvement and ownership has continued at Howard Miller Clocks. And Howard Miller, while sticking to its core competencies in mechanical grandfather clocks, both cable and chain driven, and keywound chiming wall clocks and mantel clocks, and many clocks with quartz alternatives, they have also ventured more into furniture, including collections by Ty Pennington, and many curio cabinets, wine cabinets and bars, bar stools, and more recently, Howard Miller Home Furniture of many many different types, including bedroom furnishings and furniture.
So now you know — Herman Miller was Howard Miller’s father!
More on Howard Miller the man from the Company's archives as well as some editorializing on noting and observing his many contributions to Horology and clocks of all kinds in particular the mantel clock, wall clock, and the grandfather clock.
Even when Howard Miller clocks were made by Howard Miller working in the Herman Miller Company in the very early years of Howard Miller’s clock-making, the mantel clocks and clock-barometer-hydrometer and wall clocks, including banjo clocks, were truly inspirational. We hope to soon put on a show of the earliest Howard Miller Clocks by Herman Miller in a highly trafficked spot at one of our locations, or perhaps on loan to a New York City Museum. Anyone with any such pieces to possibly sell or loan for this endeavor please contact us at 1-800-4CLOCKS.
Incomparable workmanship. Unsurpassed quality. A quest for perfection. It is what Howard C. Miller insisted on when he founded the company back in 1926, at the age of 21.Even then, Howard Miller understood the need to create products that would be steeped in quality and value. He expected nothing less than the best. And it was only under those strict conditions that he allowed his name to grace every clock manufactured at our sprawling facility in Zeeland, Michigan. Howard Miller was schooled in the fine art of making clocks by his father, Herman, in the Black Forest region of Germany. Howard developed into a visionary whose keen sense of innovation spawned a tradition of excellence that has been uncompromised through three generations. While the early years focused on the manufacture of chiming wall and mantel clocks, Howard Miller also produced trend-setting avant garde clocks that stand today in collectors' galleries. During World War II, Howard Miller joined forces with the Ford Motor Co. to produce anti-aircraft covers. In the 1960s, the company turned its attention to grandfather clocks, eventually earning the company the title of "World's Largest Grandfather Clock Manufacturer."
In 1989, Howard Miller began creating collectors cabinets with the same attention to detail and craftsmanship inherent in their making of clocks. Fashioned from glass and hardwoods, the cabinets are ideal for displaying heirlooms, plates, glassware and other collectibles. As part of the company's continuing effort to bring customers only the best in handcrafted products, Howard Miller recently acquired three companies: The Hekman Furniture Company produces a strong cadre of carefully sculpted hardwood pieces that range from 18th and 19th Century reproductions, to contemporary products featuring fine metals and exotic woods. The Woodmark Company makes fine upholstered pieces. And the exquisite movement in many clocks we offer is made by Old World craftsmen employed by the Kieninger Company of Germany.
While Howard Miller products might once have been primarily considered as gifts for weddings, anniversaries and retirements, the company's expanded line of offerings is enticing more and more buyers who simply desire quality timepieces and furniture in their homes and businesses -- no occasion required. We offer hundreds of items to complement any decor ranging from portable alarm clocks to desk sets to wall and mantel clocks to collectors cabinets to limited edition grandfather clocks. And in price ranges that may surprise you - from $5 to $15,000. No matter the price of the purchase, you have the same assurance that Howard C. Miller provided when he began offering clocks more than 70 years ago: That quality be reflected both in the products we create, and in the people whose artistic talents we rely on to manufacture them. The legacy left by Howard C. Miller is not an easy one to emulate. But it's the only way we know of doing business. Incomparable workmanship. Unsurpassed quality. A quest for perfection.
The legacy includes an amazing collection of grandfather clocks, mantel clocks, wall clocks and so much more that has not only grown with changing times and styles, but with a dynamism that has made Howard Miller the world’s leading manufacturer of grandfather clocks.
© Grandfather Clocks Blog and 1-800-4CLOCKS