NORMAN D. LUTH Norman Day Luth wsa born in a sod house in Nebraska Prairie country near Curtis, Neb., July 15, 1908. He was the youngest of three boys. Norman's father was the victum of a fatal accident when Norman was 18 months old. The family later moved to Harlan County, where their mother raised and educated the boys by doing laundry and house work and any available work to be had. Living was not easy, but the family all worked and were kept together until all were graduated from the Alma high school. Norman was educated in the Alma school, Bickel School of Advertising in Omaha, and later at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. in the school of watchmaking. After high school graduation he worked in the Ruth copper mine at Ely and McGill, Neb. and played trumpet in a band. Later his activities found him working in Omaha at the Omaha Bee newspaper, Armour Packing Co. and Postal Telegraph. This postition took him to California in 1939. In 1942 he married Charlette Everson with whom he had gone to school from first grade to graduation in Alma. They operated the Tower Jewelery in Compton, Calif. for 30 years. He was very active in the state and national watchmaking organizations. After a heart attack in 1963, --------------------------------------------- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis,_Nebraska https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Frontier_County,_Nebraska_Genealogy https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Harlan_County,_Nebraska_Genealogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraska https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Douglas_County,_Nebraska_Genealogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton,_California https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Los_Angeles_County,_California_Genealogy --------------------------------------------- name of newspaper: The Lincoln Star location: Lincoln, NE 68501 date of article: Monday, September 1, 1958 edition: 56th year, number 287 page: page 2 column: 1 website: https://journalstar.com/contact/ about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Journal_Star source: https://access-newspaperarchive-com.hpld.idm.oclc.org/us/nebraska/lincoln/lincoln-star/1958/09-01/page-2 source: https://archive.org/details/lincoln-star-1958-09-01/page/n1/mode/1up Watchmakers Elect Nebraskan Denver(AP)-- Norman D. Luth of Bell, Calif., Sunday was reelected president of the United Horological Association of America at the organization's 24th annual convention. Other officers named include James B. Kidd of South Sioux City, Neb., vice president. Elected to the board of directors were Jesse E. Coleman of Nashville, Tenn., and Milton E. Roth of Waterloo, Iowa. The organization's distinguished achievement award ws given posthumously to the late Dr. Alfred Chapuis of New Chapel, Switzerland. The award was received by Paul Tschudin of New York City, managing director in the United States for watchmakers of Switzerland. Dr. Chapuis died in July. He was regarded as one of the outstanding historical and technical writers in the watchmaking field and was the author of more than 50 books. --------------------------------------------- name of newspaper: Lincoln Evening Journal and Nebraska State Journal location: Lincoln, NE 68501 date of article: Monday, April 25, 1955 edition: ?, number 114 page: page 5 column: 2 website: https://journalstar.com/contact/ about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Journal_Star source: https://access-newspaperarchive-com.hpld.idm.oclc.org/us/nebraska/lincoln/lincoln-evening-journal-and-nebraska-state-journal/1955/04-25/page-5 Horological Post to Milford Man OMAHA (AP)-- Norman D. Luth of Bell, Calif., was elected president of the United Horological Society. Other officers: William Yost of Milford, Neb., vice president, and Orville R. Higgins of Denver, secretary. The group wound up its convention Monday. --------------------------------------------- name of newspaper: Long Beach Press Telegram location: Long Beach, CA 90804 date of article: Wednesday, September 5, 1951 edition: volume 62, number 218 page: page 29 column: 3 website: https://www.presstelegram.com/ about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press-Telegram source: https://access-newspaperarchive-com.hpld.idm.oclc.org/us/california/long-beach/long-beach-press-telegram/1951/09-05/page-29 National Confab Scheduled Here News that the United Horologists Association of America will hold its 1952 convention here was received today as members of the state group prepared for their annual meeting Sunday, Sept. 16, in the Municipal Auditorium. Decidion to come to Long Beach next year was made by the national watchmakers' body at its recently concluded convention in Denver. The local delegation to the Denver meeting was heded Norman Luth of Compton, chairman of the state convention Beach, past president of the local Beach ,past president of the local watchmakers' guild. Date for the 1952 national convention wil be announced later. Plans for the state convention Sept. 16 call for technical motion pictures and talks and business sessions. There will be no display of new tools or material, although watchmakers will show collections of antique clocks, watches, and tools. There will be prizes for the most unusual displays. Registration will begin at 9 a. m. for the 300 delegrates expected to attend. Mrs. Bebe Snow is in charge of the registration. Frank Buchan is official host and Snow will handle the technical section and displays. All are members of the Long Beach guild. --------------------------------------------- name of newspaper: Independant Press Telegram Southland magazine location: Long Beach, CA 90804 date of article: Sunday, August 16, 1953 edition: volume 1, number 52 page: 99 column: full page website: https://www.presstelegram.com/ about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press-Telegram source: https://access-newspaperarchive-com.hpld.idm.oclc.org/us/california/long-beach/independent-press-telegram/1953/08-16/page-99 source: https://archive.org/details/independent-press-telegram-1953-08-16/page/n98/mode/1up source: Historical Society of Long Beach, object 2011.1953.044, shelf 86C, floor gallery [see Independent-Press-Telegram-Aug-16-1953-p-99.Jpeg] [picture caption] These horologists (watchmakers to you) show how not to overhaul a timepiece. L. to r.: Charles Show, Morris Wolf and Norman D. Luth. They Make 100 Millionth of One Horsepower Tick! THIS IS THE STORY of the horologist, the man with the magnifying glass eyepiece who peers in the innards of what he believes is the "world's finest pieve of machinery"--the watch. The horologist--or man who builds and repairs timepieces--hold nothing but respect for the man-made instrument that has captured the precision of the tars. His is a painstaking task. The job is nerve-wracking, a strain upon the eyesight--and the posture he must assume while examining the tiny mechanism is highly unconfortable. It's an exacting job because he knows there are more than 300 ways a watch can be mechanically imperfect. And behind the dial that records the passing of time are 156 minute parts. One is the balance wheel, which swings back and forth at the rate of 18,000 beats an hour -- or 150,000,000 beats a year. Revolving at about the same speed as the wheels of a locomotive highballing at 60 miles an hourm the balance wheel easily approximates 90,000 miles of travel a year! The motor of a watch generates about a hundred millionth of one horsepower. A fleck of dust, a tiny hair, a drop of water or a piece of lint easily can stop the entire operation. No sonder then most horologists' urge that a watch be cleaned at least once a year. The watchmaker dislikes the term "cleaning." He himself uses the word "overhaul." When a watch is overhauled, each of the 156 parts must be removed and examined. The pivots must be polished and the jewels inspected. The parts are placed in a wire basker and attached to a machine that operates similarly to an automatic waching machine. The cleaning basker is lowered from one solution to another and is revolved in both directions for 15 minutes. Then the parts are dried by rapid spinning, and rinsed. After three rinses, they go into a heating chamber for drying. Now the watch is ready for assembling. Oiling is a problem too. Very little oil is used. If you had to buy a quart of this oil, it would cost you $2000. On the other hand, one quart of oil would lubricate every watch in California for 10 years! The work is extremely intricate and tedius. Scres in some small watchs carry as many as 280 threads to the inch. You'll find quality steel in watches. One cubic inch of the steel used in hair springs would cost about $10,000. Some watches have winding mechanism mounted on ball bearings so small that it takes 25,500 of them to weigh one ounce. They're so tiny they won't sink when places on water. Yet there have been horologists so skillful and patient they have been able to drill a hole through one of these ball bearings. Such a feat has no value of the art of horology, however, except perhaps to prove the importance of master craftmanship in building fine watches. Timekeeping is just one of the factors in teh popularity of a watch or clock. So the horologist has provided all sizes, shapes and types of timepieces for the public. It's possible to buy a watch about the size of a match head. Or they come as large as biscuits. You can buy a watch for as low as $1.98--or you can pay as much as you would for a yacht. Some watches tell not only the hour and minute but also the day and the month. Some even tell the phase of the moon, the tide, temperature and barometric pressure. Some watchs strike the hour (these usually are used by blind persons). Some play music every 15 minutes. Some are so thin they will fit between the teeth of a comb or will go inside a hollowed-out $20 gold piece. Some watches are made with 24 hours on the dial. In some, balance jewels are mounted in tiny springs to absorb the shock of hard wear. Occasionally a watch will have diamond cap jewels that act as thrust bearings. Some watches have mainsprings 2-1/2 inches long -- and some clock have mainsprings up to 24 feet in length. There are watchs which must be wound by a key. Others are wound by the stem and crown. Still others need to winding at all; the motion of the wrist keeps them wound, even for 30 hours after the watch is removed from the arm. The horologists of the nation have two main purposes: 1--to protect the public from unscrupulous repairmen, and 2--to keep abreast of developments and progress in the watchmaking craft. They have banded together in an organization, and many of the leaders are residents of Southern California. Norman D. Luth, the president of the United Horological Association of America, resides in Hunthington Park and operates a shop in Compton. Leaders in the Horological Association of California hail from Long Beach or nearby. The include Leon Forrest Well, persident; Morris Wolf, vice president; Howard Nixon, treasurer; Charles Snow, public relations officer, and Luth, state secretary. The men who display the blue and red shield of the Horological Association of America offer this advice to watch owners: 1--Wind your watch fully at the same time everyday, preferably in the morning. 2--Never shake your watch if it should stop. 3--When the crystal on your watch is chipped or cracked, have it replaced with a new one. Otherwise dust will collect on the dial and work its way into the movement. 4--Never attempt to regulate your watch yourself. Have a horologist do it. He will not charge you for this service. 5--Never put your watch in a drawer containing cosmetics, powder or tissues. Lint and powder will work their way into the movement. Perfume has alcohol in it and the fumes will dry out the oil in your watch. 6--If your watch should get wet, take it to your jeweler immediately. Don't wait until tomorrow. If that is impossible, place the watch in alcohol and take it to the jeweler as soon as possible. 7--Never remove the back of your watch to look inside. Dust from the air may stop the tiny motor. 8--Never blow your breath on your watch movement. Moisture in it will cause the parts to rust. --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------