Mike Simpson shows off his Civil War-era cuckoo clock at the National Archives at Atlanta in Morrow. He plans to bring the clock to "Civil War Treasures in Your Nation's Attic, " an "Antiques Roadshow"-like event that will be filmed April 16 at the National Archives at Atlanta.
From Access Atlanta:
- Michael Simpson has a clock. It was made by the American Cuckoo Clock Co. of Philadelphia. With its fluted columns, the rosewood clock is reminiscent of a Greek temple. At its peak is a small door, no larger than a playing card, that pops open to reveal a tiny wooden bird, light blue with a dappled white breast. The clock has been in his family for more than a century. It was a gift to Aaron Simpson, who was barely more than a child when he joined a New Hampshire regiment as its drummer boy. He went off to war, came back and was presented with a handsome clock from his father, no doubt relieved that the youngster made it through the conflict intact.
- Unlike young Aaron, the clock never saw much action. For various reasons, it was hardly used from one generation to the next, though a family cat did knock it off a wall, denting the clock’s face. Simpson, 56, plans to show it Saturday.
- “You don’t see them like that anymore,” said Simpson, a retired chef who lives in Hapeville. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
- Its value? “It wouldn’t matter what it’s worth,” said Simpson. “This’ll go to my son, and his son, and so on.”
