We do like a Westie - Westclox that is!

When I say Westie, I don't mean West Highland Terrier, but a clock made by Westclox. Here in Britain this is one of those symbols of homelife - the good old Westclox alarm clock on the bedside table. The words "Westclox, Scotland" on the "Big Ben Repeater", for example, are ingrained in our psyche in much the same way as The Shipping Forecast. Although the Westclox Clock is, or should I say was, an established part of British life, many of us have assumed over the years that it was a British brand. This is not the case: Westclox was an American company, starting up in Connecticut in 1885. It was not until 1948 that Westclox clocks were manufactured in Scotland at a factory in Dumbarton. Still, with that knowledge, we still will consider the Westclox clock as very British, in  a similar way that we consider the Ford Cortina a 'British' standard.