Posted 7 years ago
vintagelamp
(1097 items)
My cousin, Anne Nichols, wrote the famous play "Abie's Irish Rose" in the 1920s and the play remained in production for several years. It then became a radio show in the 1940s. There were two movie versions of the play in 1928 and 1946. The television show "Bridget Loves Bernie" from the 1970s was based on Anne's play.
I was thrilled whenever I found the Arco stopwatch above with "Abie's Irish Rose" inscribed on the back. I am sure that it was used to time scenes of the play. It is in very bad condition but, to me it is a treasure. I am trying to figure out the date of the stopwatch. It could range anywhere from the 1920s through the 1940s.
The second photo shows an original script of the play with several hand-written annotations (right) and Anne Nichol's personal copy of the transcripts of a famous lawsuit she lost against Universal Pictures (left).
The last photo shows a scene from the play. My other cousin, Evelyn Nichols (front left) is playing Rosemary Murphy, the lead in the play. She is one of Anne's sisters.
The stopwatch was in a group of watches that someone was selling for parts. I am so lucky to have found it!
I remember your previous posts about your cousin's play Abie's Irish Rose. What a gem of a thing to find! I can only imagine how excited you are!
racer, Thank you so much! I was very excited! I am so proud of what she accomplished.
Wow! Definitely a treasure - I am happy for you that you found it :)
I have the sheet music! Not that hard to find. Try eBay!
I have posted the sheet music from the 1928 movie or you to see.Your cousin Ann wrote the music!
buckethead, Thank you, so much!
PCC, Thank you! Also for posting the sheet music! I have a few more songs written by Anne that were never published.
This is so wonderful!! You have the most wonderful stories and collection. I always look forward to seeing what you'll post next.
jscott, Thank you! I really enjoy the wonderful items that you post also!
What a lovely stopwatch, and such a treasure too with that wonderful inscription!
I haven't a clue about the date, but I did a little Googling and found a listing for a similar -- but silver-tone -- stopwatch here:
https://picclick.co.uk/Vintage-Arco-Swiss-Made-Military-Issue-Broad-Arrow-392242998284.html
The original eBay listing is gone as the item is now sold, but the part of the listing still visible through Picclick shows the first part of the description as: "VINTAGE ARCO SWISS MADE MILITARY ISSUE BROAD ARROW TP 1/5 SEC STOP WATCH. VINTAGE ARCO SWISS MADE MILITARY ISSUE BROAD ARROW TP 1/5 SEC STOP WATCHBROAD ARROW TO REAR, FULLY WORKING. 50MM DIAMETER APPROX. Condition: Used, Condition: WORKING IN GOOD CONDITION"
And there's another listing for a second silver-tone stopwatch here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324332958040
(which is inscribed on the inside with the name E BAUMANN - not sure if yours is as well?)
Not sure if this helps at all...
You might try writing to watch experts to see if any of them can help, e.g. this sort of thing:
https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/dating-a-pocket-watch.130620/
It's also possible that the style of the script on the "Abie's Irish Rose" inscription may hold a clue. That tiny little stroke on the crossbar of the "A" is unusual.
I hope you can find a way to date this watch more closely. What an enticing mystery!
rhineisfine,
OMG! Thank you so much for the info!!! I am going to come back and check all of this out! If I find anything, I will add it here! Take care!