hard to find c. 1960's double-sided vintage industrial "simplex" non-system (i.e., not a slave) electric analog factory office clock manufactured by the simplex time recorder company (now simplexgrinnell), gardner, mass. the fully functional freestanding clock contains two convex plate glass lenses encased in a durable cast aluminum bezel and/or body with original gunship gray enameled finish. the black enameled hour and minute hands, along with bright red sweeping second hand, are original and perfectly intact. the curved edge base plate contains two pre-drilled holes for mounting flush against a flat surface. edward g. watkins founded the simplex time recorder company in 1894. watkins invented and patented one of the first practical time clocks, along with the synchronized clock systems seen in schools up until recent times. the company, located in gardner, massachusetts, purchased the ibm time equipment division in 1958. this purchase included ibm's fire protection division. originally, simplex's fire alarm line simply consisted of relabeled ibm devices and control panels (including the 4217 and possibly the 4201 series), but they began to introduce their own products starting in the early 1960s, including the 4245, 4246, and 4247 series control panels. most of simplex's notification appliances were relabeled benjamin electric, federal signal, faraday, and autocall devices. simplex's time division began to lose market share, but their newly-founded fire alarm division significantly prospered. in the early 1970s, simplex introduced the 4207 and 4208-series conventional control panels, along with their first visual signaling devices, the 4050-80 series. around this time, simplex also introduced the iconic "t-bar" style pull station, which is still manufactured today. measures 10 x 6 x 12 1/2 inches.