The Dreger Clock

1. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The Dreger Clock was hand built and completed in 1933 by Andrew Dreger, Sr., a watchmaker from Long Beach, CA. After Dreger’s death, it came to Knott’s Berry Farm about 1952 or 1953 and was enjoyed by visitors to the park for over 50 years. In the past year it was removed from public display at Knott’s. The Buena Park Historical Society bought the clock and is raising funds to restore it, and put it back on public display in the city’s historical park. Andrew Dreger Sr. The maker of the clock. 1952 - Anaheim Street in Long Beach 1988 at Knott’s 1972 at Knott’s DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

2. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The International Cities Clock Face The “international face” of the clock has a main center clock showing local Southern California time. Surrounding this clock are twelve 6-inch clocks originally built to display the solar time of cities around the world, but can also be set to show time zone times. Cities: New York, Liverpool, Paris, Berlin, Petrograd (St. Petersburg / Leningrad), Melbourne, Rio De Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rome, and Mexico City. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

3. The Dreger Clock Origin and History Day, Weekday, Month and Phase of the Moon On the opposite side, a large local-time clock surrounds three inner dials which display the weekday, month, and day of the month. Also included is a visual display of the current phase of the moon. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

4. The Dreger Clock Origin and History Primary Clock Face The front face simply displays a huge local-time clock. All the clock faces have a translucent glass background. At night they are backlit by internal lighting. The entire clock is electrically powered. It is not a pendulum-driven clock. The gears and chains inside are sized to accurately drive all 19 different clocks and dials from one simple 110 volt electrical motor. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

5. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The Blank Clock Face One side of the clock is obviously missing a mechanical clock face. This side was intentionally left blank by Mr. Dreger because it was the side that faced the outer wall of his house in Long Beach. When the clock was relocated and put on display in the Knott’s Berry Farm rose garden, this blank side was filled with a painting of the four seasons. Later, when it was moved to the area in front of the Knott’s ticket booths, a sign with the Knott’s Berry Farm logo was inserted. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

6. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The Designer & Maker of the Clock Andrew Dreger, Sr. was the eldest of nine children, born in 1867 to Gottlieb and Juliana Dreger - German nationals living in western Russia who emigrated to the United States around 1892. Andrew was mechanically minded and worked as a bicycle repairman, blacksmith, and in his later years as a watch smith. He moved to Long Beach, California, around 1910. Before building the huge town-clock, he built a smaller pendulum driven prototype which was displayed in the 1928 Pacific Southwest Exposition in Long Beach DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

7. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The Inner Workings - a simple, non-traditional approach The clock is driven by a single 110v electrical motor (not shown in these photos) through a central gear box which distributes mechanical motion to the three faces. The internal parts are simple yet efficient, a reflection of the depression era in which it was built. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

8. The Dreger Clock Origin and History Center Column & Primary Face DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

9. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The Day, Month, Date and Phase of the Moon face. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

10. The Dreger Clock Origin and History The International Cities face DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

11. The Dreger Clock Origin and History Solar Time and Time-Zone Time Later, clocks were set to show synchronized minute hand time-zone times. Clock set to display Solar Time on international clocks. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

12. The Dreger Clock Origin and History Currently in Warehouse Storage Sometime in 2006 or 2007, the clock was moved from its long-time home at Knott’s and disappeared from public view. In August of 2007, I did an internet search and located an eBay listing that was selling the Dreger clock! The clock’s current “home” is a huge storage warehouse. Here it is surrounded by other bits and pieces of historical items. It is hidden away… out of public view. DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society

13. The Dreger Clock Origin and History Preserving the Clock in Buena Park Whitiker-Jaynes House DregerClock.org DregerClock.org A project of the Buena Park Historical Society