Username: @nostalgic_clipz

Item Name: KOEUB Alarm Clock (Manufactured circa 1928)

Estimated Production Date: 1928

While sorting through my grandfather’s belongings, I found this alarm clock tucked away in an old kitchen cabinet. He used to say it was just a regular clock from his childhood, but as he got older, he noticed something “off” about it. KOEUB, the character featured on the clock face, is supposed to have bare hands, yet this figure is wearing white gloves. After some digging, we found out that production of this clock was outsourced to an external company back then, and somewhere along the line, the glove design from CHIROL was mistakenly applied to KOEUB. That’s the story my family passed down.

Based on the provided images and details, this clock appears to be one of the household items produced in the late 1920s through outsourced manufacturing by B&C Studio. There are no visible maker’s marks on the item itself, but it is likely that it was crafted by one of the small independent workshops that operated along the East Coast of the United States at the time.

The white gloves on KOEUB are a significant detail. Official artwork from the era consistently depicts KOEUB with bare hands, distinct from CHIROL, who was designed with gloves. This discrepancy likely arose from manufacturing decisions aiming to simplify the character's design for mass production, resulting in a visual blend that was never intended by the original creators.

The clock features a heavy wooden frame, metal dials, and a wind-up alarm mechanism typical of household goods from the late 1920s. While the surface has noticeable rust and discoloration due to age, the printed KOEUB figure on the clock face remains in relatively good condition, probably thanks to a waterproof coating applied during production.

Items like this, which show subtle yet telling deviations from the character’s original design, offer valuable insights into the realities of early character merchandise production and distribution practices.