Mark Twain buys a watch factory - the Fredonia Diseaster
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"Mark Twain" was a pen name, the real name of the world-famous writer was Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Quote concerning watches by Mark Twain_
"If your watch breaks, you have two options: throw it in the fire or take it to a watchmaker. The former is faster."
Samuel Langhorne Clemens had a long love-hate relationship with watches and watchmakers.
In 1881, on the advice of Charles Webster, his niece's husband, Clemens purchased shares of the Independent Watch Company of Fredonia, later known as the Fredonia Watch Company.
Like so many of Clemens' ill-fated business ventures, his investment in the Fredonia Watch Company turned out to be little more than a scheme designed primarily to extract money from Clemens without much hope of a positive return.
The Howard Brothers, patent medicine salesmen who had operated a mail-order watch business, became the target of Clemens' wrath after some shady financial dealings involving their own investment in Fredonia stock.
In September 1882, Clemens Webster instructed that the following letter be published in the local newspapers:
Sell $5,000 worth of watch stocks
I would like to sell $5,000 worth of stock in Independent Watch Co. of Fredonia, New York.
To prevent the potential buyer from paying too much and later blaming me, I will disclose the facts to him; then he can make an informed purchase.
Two or three years ago, some people named Howard Brothers (first names), born and raised in Fredonia and well known there, came up with the idea of founding a clock company. Their predictions and prophecies were deceptive and plausible, and the shares were immediately subscribed by the trusting villagers.
It's not unlikely that the Howards intended from the outset to sell the shares at a profit and salvage the rest as best they could. What is certainly not unlikely, but certain, is that they immediately sold a large portion of their shares—they offered me a purchase price of $25,000, and I agreed to retain control and voting rights for several months, until after the next annual general meeting (!).
The company then announced a dividend – not from profits, which was illegal, and thus exposed itself to high liability.
Because of the new confidence that this sign of (apparent) prosperity aroused, the Howards sold almost all of their remaining shares and accepted almost any kind of property that was offered to them.
The Howards are now virtually out of business and have fresh capital to advance their patent medicines business.
The rest of us are still involved—but most of us don't know how to make watches or run watch factories. Therefore, I'd like to retire. Anyone who would like to make me an offer (an exorbitant one isn't necessary) should contact—S.L. Clemens, (Mark Twain) Hartford, Conn.
Apparently the letter was never published because Charles Webster successfully negotiated the repayment of Clemens' money with the Howard brothers.
Webster was Clemens's business manager and publisher. The book "Mark Twain, Businessman," edited by Webster's son Samuel, offers a fascinating insight into the business behind the Mark Twain name.
Nevertheless, this episode reminds us once again that one never wants to mess with Mark Twain's pen.
Source: pocketwatchrepair.com