"The Time Machine" for Try It On Tuesday - 6/9/15

Try It On Tuesday has a challenge every two weeks with a limit of five images per participant that can be rendered in any medium. Click on the challenge title at the beginning of this sentence to participate or view the works of others.

This week's challenge is Watches and Clocks.

Click on any image for larger views.

"The Time Machine"

I started with my own photograph of Kaufmann's Clock, a landmark in Downtown Pittsburgh.  I then added images of other clocks and gears, added some electric sparks and created a border.

MORE ABOUT THE CLOCK:
Since 1913, "Meet me under Kaufmann's Clock" was said by one and all when meeting someone in downtown Pittsburgh. This clock has been added to the list of official local landmarks.

Kaufmann's was a large department store in the city then, and later built additional stores in the suburbs. The store is now owned by Macy's. The Kaufmann family was also famous for hiring Frank Lloyd Wright to design their vacation home in the mountains southeast of the city ---the home which became known as Fallingwater.

My original photo.

From an April 21, 2013 article on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website, marking the 100 year anniversary of the clock: 

"The current clock is... the second one at Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street. The original, four-faced clock was installed in 1884 and stood on a post at that intersection....

"The present clock was designed by Coldwell Clock Co. of New York City and weighs about 2,500 pounds. It was incorporated into the building's facade by the Pittsburgh architectural firm of Janssen & Abbott.

"In 1987, when the clock was dismantled for cleaning and restoration, more than 100 pieces were removed in a two-part process that took three days. The clock's works were tagged, numbered and photographed to ensure accuracy. Three teams of 15 specialists worked for 10 weeks on the restoration.

"The clock's surface was so heavily oxidized and coated with 74 years worth of soot, grime and pigeon droppings that chemical cleaners and solvents proved useless.

"Using bridge cleaning equipment, workers blasted 1,000 pounds of ground corncobs at the clock to clean it."