Duquesne Brewery Clock

Located on the Duquesne Brewing Company building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Duquesne Brewery Clock was the largest single-face clock in the world when it was installed in 1933. Over the years its face has been used to advertise numerous brands, beginning with Coca-Cola.[1]

Duquesne Brewery Clock
The clock, with AT&T logo on the face
LocationPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40.426158°N 79.9759895°W / 40.426158; -79.9759895
Built/founded1933
The clock with Equitable Gas

History
The Duquesne Brewery clock in 2019, with no advertising on the face

The 60-by-60-foot (18 m × 18 m) clock face, with a 35-foot (11 m) minute hand and a 25-foot (7.6 m) hour hand,[2] both of laminated aluminum, is nearly twice the size of London's Big Ben, and was built in Georgia by Audichron for $12,500 and shipped to Pittsburgh.[3] The clock, designed by Audichron founder John L. Franklin, is driven by a 1.25-horsepower (0.93 kW) Janett motor.[4]

Originally located on a Mount Washington hillside,[5] the clock's face was used as advertising for a succession of beverages, including Coca-Cola, and Fort Pitt,[6] Ballantine, Carling, and Schlitz beers. In 1961, the Duquesne Brewing Company bought the clock, painted its "Have A Duke" slogan on the face and installed it atop its building in the South Side where it has been running since.[5] After the brewery closed in 1972, the clock was leased to Stroh's Beer, then WTAE-TV Channel 4. After WTAE's lease ended in 1993, the clock continued to run without an ad. The Pittsburgh Brewing Company paid $44,000 to repair the clock when it took over in 1999, paying $5,000 a month to show its logo on the face. In 2002, Equitable Gas paid to have their name placed on the clock. In October 2009, AT&T took over the rights to advertise on the clock and redesigned the face to display the traditional blue and white AT&T logo.[7]

As of 2017, the clock is running without advertising.

The clock is featured prominently in the 1983 movie Flashdance.

Reference List
  1. "Other campuses" (PDF). Armour Tech News. Chicago, Ill.: Armour Institute of Technology. 3 April 1934. p. 2. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  2. Danver, Charles F (30 October 1962). "The big clock". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 31. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  3. Paris, Barry (27 June 1983). "Time is no longer frozen on landmark clock". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  4. "Duquesne Brewery Clock, Pittsburgh". NAWCC Communications Forum. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  5. Brashear, Derrick (16 January 2010). "History of Duquesne Brewery clock faces". rusty bridge. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  6. "Constructing the Power House". Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  7. Nelson Jones, Diana (28 October 2009). "AT&T to sponsor landmark clock on the South Side". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 3 July 2010.


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