How Did the Colgate Clock Get Here?

How Did the Colgate Clock Get Here?. Historic Walk. , This was the second giant clock to decorate the top of the Colgate company warehouse (nearby). This version, created in 1924, was removed and relocated after the company left Jersey City in 1988., Why Eight Sides? , The clock is octagonal to honor the original shape of an early popular Colgate product, a laundry cleanser called Octagon Soap. the company has a distinguished history of product development, especially when founder William Colgate's son Samuel took over. Colgate was among the first to produce a milled perfumed toilet soap, called Cashmere Bouquet, starting in 1872. It soon began selling toothpaste in a jar, transforming access to dental care. In 1896, Colgate manufactured a collapsible toothpaste tube, and nearly 90 years later, an image of this best-selling product found its way next to the clock above the Jersey City warehouse., Among the World's Largest , This 50-foot clock, with an area of nearly 2,000 square feet, is the seventh largest functioning clock face in the world. It originally ran on 28 rechargeable, large-voltage batteries and is accurate to the minute. The clock operated from 1924 until the summer of 1955, when it was stopped for a number of weeks so the immense wooden hands could be replaced. Today the clock is still functioning, just south of 30 Hudson Street., The Height of Industrial America , William Colgate founded Colgate's Soap and Perfumery Works as a maker of soap, starch, and candles. It later became Colgate-Palmolive and Company. Colgate expanded what was initially a soap factory in Jersey City into a booming complex that employed 600 workers by the late 1800's. Over the next eight decades, the company erected a series of buildings (between York, Greene, Hudson , and Grand Streets) used for manufacturing, administration, and research. People could easily move between the facilities via elevated walkways., You can still see , One of the buildings from the original Colgate complex still stands at 95 Greene Street., [Timeline:] ,

1825: William Colgate establishes a starch factory nearby at Harsimus Cove, two decades after founding Colgate's Soap and Perfumery Works in New York City. , 1906: Colgage builds a large clock atop its plant (at York and Hudson Streets) to honor the company's centennial. It is relocated to Clarksville, Indiana, and replaced in 1924 with the clock you see today. , 1983: The original 20-foot "Soaps Perfumes" sign atop the Colgate plant is removed, and later replaced with a giant toothpaste tube, advertising one of Colgate's best-selling products. , 1988-1989: The Colgate company leaves Jersey City, and the clock is lowered to ground level in what had been the company complex. , 2013: The clock, newly refurbished with thousands of LED lights, is moved to its current waterfront site.