Description
Designer Samuel Whittemore Boggs filed a patent for “Horological Instrument and Related Devices” (U.S. Patent No. 2,056,089) in 1936. The so-called ‘Horological Instrument’ is a clock that enables users to simultaneously determine the local time and day of the week anywhere in the world, based on a reference time and location. In the patent, the device features an outer circular stationary circumpolar world map with clearly marked time zones. The patent further provides that surrounding this map is a geared rotating hour disk that advances in hourly increments and a geared day-of-the-week disk that shifts every 24 hours. A pair of arrows positioned at the International Date Line visually divide the hemisphere into two parts, each representing one of the two days in progress at any given moment. The clock includes a traditional minute hand that rotates continuously, while the hour and day disks move step-by-step via a simple mechanical system.
In the same patent, Boggs also proposed simplified so-called “Related Devices” which were hand-operated for educational use, as well as adaptations for geographical globes to visually teach time and date differences. The patent claims cover the unique combination of these mechanical and visual features by which time and day are simultaneously indicated around the globe. The invention was intended for use in various contexts — including aboard ships, in schools, and by communication professionals — offering a practical and intuitive way to grasp the complexities of global timekeeping.
Copyrighted and issued in 1943, Tele-Time employs the hand-operated approach of one of the “Related Devices” described in Bogg’s 1936 patent. It has a small cut-out tab at the top edge of the inner circumpolar map disk to hold it stationary and simultaneously rotate the outer “hour disk” to reflect local time and then visualize world time anywhere else. This model was manufactured in partnership with A.J. Nystrom & Co., a prominent Chicago-based school supplier that offered a variety of terrestrial and celestial globes. Boggs was apparently an employee or frequent collaborator of Nystrom; he authorized 1945 Nystrom manual titled “Globe Studies and Uses,” which illustrated the versatility of Nystrom’s three dimensional globes as learning aids in scientific, geographic, and astronomical fields.
A unique feature of Tele-Time is the inclusion of “wartime changes” in time keeping. World War II had a significant impact on global timekeeping, prompting widespread adjustments to time zones and the adoption of new time standards. These changes were primarily driven by the need to improve military coordination, increase industrial efficiency, and conserve energy. This was including in the instructions on the backside of the device:
“Many time changes have been made in accord with the war. Some of the changes affect standard time zones, others affect summer or daylight saving time. Some localities use two or more different time zones between peace time, standard time, summer time, or wartime. In using this disk, assume that the time is set for the time of year and zone being used — as follows — or consult your Government or military time broadcast.”
In the United States and Canada, “War Time” was introduced in 1942, setting clocks one hour ahead of standard time year-round. Similarly, the United Kingdom adopted “Double Summertime,” advancing clocks two hours ahead of standard time during the summer and one hour ahead during the winter. Other British Commonwealth nations, including Australia and New Zealand, implemented comparable changes to support wartime production and logistical coordination. Germany and its Axis-aligned countries also adopted permanent daylight-saving measures, typically moving clocks one hour ahead. To facilitate synchronized operations across multiple theaters of war, military forces standardized their timekeeping practices. Allied troops, for instance, often used Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or “Z-time” (Zulu Time) as a universal reference in communications and mission planning. This demand for precision led to the integration of even remote or rural regions—some of which had previously relied on local mean time—into national or military time zones. In certain cases, countries abandoned fractional hour time zones during the war to streamline scheduling and reduce confusion.
The influence of these wartime adjustments extended beyond the conflict. Many of the timekeeping conventions introduced during the war persisted into the postwar period. In the United States, for example, daylight saving time was eventually adopted as a permanent policy in the 1960s, based in part on its success during the war. More broadly, World War II revealed the strategic importance of standardized timekeeping, prompting countries to develop more centralized and consistent national time systems. These changes laid the foundation for many of the global time zone practices still in use today, with Tele-Time as a historical artifact immortalizing the globalized logistics of World War II and the analog ingenuity used to bridge time and distance before digital technologies emerged.
Read more about Nystrom in our Guide to Globe Makers.
Printed rectangular cartouche: “TELE-TIME / Tells hour of day, and day of the week, all over the world. / Patent No. 2,056,089. Copyright 1943 by S. W. Boggs, Washington, D.C.”
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, handling.
References:
Boggs, Samuel Whittenmore. “Horological Instrument and Related Devices.” U.S. Patent Office, No. 2,056,089. September 29, 1936.