AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – When Ben Mischey fixes a clock, he wishes it could tell him the story of its history and former owners.
He’s been repairing and selling clocks – from family heirlooms to auction and estate sale finds – for about 46 years.
“And I’ve always wanted to know the kind of history,” said the owner of Big Ben’s Clock Shop, 3841 Mahoning Ave. “I can’t find out any, but I’ve always wanted to know where they were, who had them.”
Grandfather clocks, mantle clocks, cuckoo clocks, clocks with moving faces and other varieties fill the Mahoning Avenue shop. The only sound rivaling the frequency of their chimes is the telephone, ringing from customers’ questions and requests.
“I have not run out of work and repairs,” Mischey said. “I am overloaded. In fact, there’s times that I can’t even take any work in at all because I just don’t have the capacity.”
He does all of the work himself. People bring him their clocks, but each Monday he makes housecalls, performing regular maintenance on clocks and repairing time pieces in customers’ homes.
He buys clocks at auctions and similar sales to sell to customers. He’s bought more than one grandfather clock back from a buyer when they were downsizing too. Repairs at the shop far outnumber sales, Mischey said, pointing to a sluggish economy. The price of grandfather clocks in his shop range between $500 and $5,000.
Mischey used to repair electric clocks too, but he can’t find motors for them anymore. A lot of good companies that used to sell parts have closed.
“It was a hobby for 12, maybe 14 years before I opened up the business. And I thought this was something I’d like to do when I retired,” he said.
He worked at Youngstown Welding and Engineering for more than 32 years. He started his clock business on the side first to make sure he could make a go of it. It did well, so at 60, he retired early from Youngstown Welding and started Big Ben’s.
He’s nearing 92 but plans to keep working as long as he’s able and enjoys it.
His Customers
Mischey has a loyal following.
“He is just the best guy in this world …,” customer Joann Beck said. “He always treats you with respect and kindness.” Mischey has fixed many of her clocks.
“He has a beautiful shop,” Beck said.
Christine Oliver of Canfield bought a clock from Mischey about 20 years ago. Now she has nine.
“Grandfather clocks, cuckoo clocks – the German cuckoo clocks – and mantle clocks” she bought from Mischey fill her home.
He maintains her clocks as well.
“First of all, he’s a very nice gentleman,” Oliver said. “… He’s brilliant. He can fix clocks – he works on clocks. And to look at his age, that this man still does this just totally amazes me. He is such a good person.”
Oliver is president of Canfield City Council, and Mischey contacted her after reading a news article about a plan to salvage the clock on the Village Green that was donated years before by the Junior Women’s League.
“‘He said, ‘I fixed that clock many years ago. I can fix this clock,’” Oliver said.
Mischey ordered and installed the movements in the clock, and Oliver’s husband, Sam, refurbished it by sandblasting the exterior and adding tempered glass.
“We saved the clock, and it’s on our village green and it’s illuminated …,” Oliver said. It was dedicated with a ceremony last July 4.
She also pointed to Mischey’s kindness. When Oliver’s daughter was born, he brought a gift.
“He gave us a Noah’s Ark clock for my baby’s room,” she said. “That’s the kind of man that he is.”
How It Started
The business started as a hobby. Mischey likes antiques, and in the 1970s and 1980s, he used to frequent garage sales.
“Once in a while, I’d pick up one of the old clocks,” he said. “And I’m a machinist. I was a machinist in the service, and so I tinkered with it and started taking them apart – learned how to take them apart – and put them back together. And that’s how I started.”
Repairs on battery-powered clocks move fairly quickly, but mechanical repairs take time. Mischey takes them apart, cleans them ultrasonically, puts them back together and tests them to ensure they work.
“They’re not five minute jobs,” he said.
Repairs to family heirlooms generally involve the most time, although his customers are willing to wait as long as it takes.
Mischey sees a lot of antiques, including clocks from the 1800s. Mischey prefers the older clocks and their simpler construction and particularly admires German craftsmanship.
There are a few other Mahoning Valley businesses that repair clocks, but it’s not a well-populated profession.
Older clocks were made better, with better quality materials. They used to be made of solid cherry, mahogany or oak. Now many are made of poplar and stained to mimic the higher quality woods. There used to be about a dozen companies that manufactured clocks. Now there are two, and the quality of the clocks isn’t the same.
Mischey, with help from a relative, loads grandfather clocks he buys or delivers in an old station wagon. The repair and maintenance work isn’t delicate, but it is precise.
A collection of weights and tubes allows the clock to operate and keep accurate time.
Besides his skills and craftsmanship, he credits his integrity for his business’s longevity.
“I learned from the very beginning when I ran a business, I ran it with honesty and quality,” Mischey said. “I don’t – I won’t take advantage of people in any way at all.”
Pictured at top: Ben Mischey, owner of Big Ben’s Clock Shop.