[3] Mass production of clocks had come on line during the first quarter of the 19th century in the United States, moving from a handicraft to a factory basis; the forward-thinking Dennison hoped to apply the same principles and techniques to the making of pocket watches.

Joining Dennison and Howard in establishment of the company were fellow Bostonians David P. Davis, experienced in manufacturing, and financial angel Samuel Curtis.

The name was quickly changed to Warren Manufacturing Dennison, paid $1,200 a year to head the project, was sent to Great Britain by his partners to learn trade secrets and purchase supplies for the American effort.

[11] In 1876, the company showed off the first automatic screw making machinery and was awarded the first gold medal in a watch precision contest at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.

[12] This downturn not only did not abate but actually accelerated in 1908 and 1909, leading the sons of Royal Robbins to liquidate their holdings in the company as quietly as possible, with the brothers selling nearly all of the Waltham stock which they had inherited from their father.

Seeing a great demand in Europe as a result of the outbreak of World War I, Waltham introduced production of mechanized time fuses to control the burst of artillery shells in 1915, as well as automobile speedometers in 1916 and blood pressure gauges in 1917.

[19] By 1917 the American economy was booming, demand for watches was high, but Waltham was operating at full capacity, with the United States War Department calling for increased production of artillery fuses.

[21] However the easy money of military contracts papered over what one historian has characterized as an era of "wanton extravagance, gross inefficiency, and a marked lack of business foresight.

[27] Regarding Waltham's management as incompetent, the First National Bank of Boston and other creditors took effective control of the company late in 1921, selecting one of their own directors, Gifford K. Simonds of Fitchburg, Massachusetts as new chief executive officer.

[34] Small investors unable to contribute new money were treated far less favorably, however, being forced to accept an exchange of old stock for new at the rate of 10 shares for 2.5 — thereby losing 75% of their equity in one fell swoop.

[43] No general reduction of salaries was attempted for office and factory workers but total payroll was nonetheless reduced through layoffs and reorganization, with an eye to streamlining the company's inefficient planning and billing bureaucracy.

Most importantly, Dumaine changed the company's course from the production of the elegantly-crafted pocket watches for which it was known — a form increasingly out of favor with post-war consumers — towards the manufacture of smaller and fresher wristwatches designed for a mass market at a lower price-point.

[44] This change had come with significant risk, as Waltham had dominated the market for luxury pocket watches and faced a serious shortage of the designers and toolmakers needed to revamp and modernize its product line.

[48][49] This, unsurprisingly, proved unpopular with Waltham workers, 75 of whom in the Finishing department put down tools on August 11, 1924, over news of a forthcoming 10% wage cut.

[50] The spirit of militance spread and the next day, slated to be the first of the new wage scale, fully 200 workers from the Finishing and Setting-Up departments stayed home.

[52] A parade estimated at 2,000 people, including some workers with 50 years of company service, marked through the streets of Waltham to a rally held at the city park.

More mobile workers began to leave the city, going to Elgin, Illinois or Lancaster, Pennsylvania to seek employment with Waltham's chief domestic competitors.

[58] The rejection of the compromise proposal marked a turning point in the strike, as strikers became more aggressive towards strikebreakers who crossed their picket lines, hurling abuse and stones and waving yellow handkerchiefs at the defectors.

[60] The strike continued into October, when the Massachusetts State Board of Conciliation, after a lengthy fact-finding process, proposed a 5% wage cut as justified for all workers earning more than $18 a week.

[63] Through the aid of bankruptcy court, in September 1950 a trustee was named to oversee the limited restart of the Waltham facility to complete the manufacture of 242,000 watches for the Christmas selling season.

[67] Sweeney's assessment proved correct, with the Waltham Watch Company squeaking out a profit of $11,728 in 1951 — the first financially positive year since the end of World War II.

[69] Not coincidentally, these were years of the Korean War, marked by expanded American military spending, which included both contracts for precision timing devices and wristwatches for soldiers.

In March 1952 the reorganized Waltham surrendered to European manufacturing prowess, announcing that the company would itself begin the importation of complete watch movements from Switzerland.

[71] This decision was slammed by Walter Cenerazzo, head of the American Watch Union, who called for establishment of a "scientific tariff" offsetting the price differential between foreign and domestic manufacture.

[74] In addition to employment considerations, the steep 50% tax was justified on national security grounds, since the production of timing mechanisms for modern armaments made use of skills and techniques utilized in the vanishing watchmaking craft.

[75] By now freed from court-controlled reorganization and seeing the writing on the wall, in July 1955 controlling interest in the Waltham Watch Company was reportedly sold to the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of Los Angeles.

[78] Boston newspaper columnist John Harriman was enthusiastic about the change, writing: "Waltham had become the marginal producer in the highly competitive watch field.

In the Fall of 1956 a new management group headed by dynamic watch wholesaler Joseph Axler[81] succeeded in obtaining 322,700 Waltham shares from a prominent broker, thereby gaining working control of the company.

"[82] Effective the first of 1957, Axler moved Waltham's executive offices to New York City, leaving the company's Massachusetts factory in operation making aircraft clocks, gyroscopes, and other electronic devices.

[88] At the end of 1959 Aaron Thorne, a former Western regional sales manager for Benrus Watch Company was added as a vice president, working from an office in Los Angeles.