Howard Miller and Floor Clocks

There is no doubt that Howard Miller, the Company that makes Howard Miller Clocks, and is probably best known for their Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, is considered by many to be among the if not the highest end grandfather clock brand on the market today. Howard Miller has certainly shown that to be true in market share, although our sense is that other high quality brands (we will gloss over the the cheap imitation brands and clocks for the moment) have been making inroads in market share.

Interestingly, Howard Miller has almost always used the preferred term of Floor Clocks instead of Grandfather Clocks. To us a Floor Clock and a Grandfather Clock, whether by Howard Miller or Hermle or Ridgeway or Kieninger or Bulova, are synonomous. We’ve never been quite sure why Howard Miller Clocks has chosen Floor Clocks as its clearly preferred term. We should point out that given their success in the marketplace, who are we to really question this strategy.

We wonder how many people actually search on the internet for Floor Clocks instead of grandfather clocks. We know the Brits are fond of tallcase and longcase clocks as the terms of choice, but our guess is that people in the UK prefer antique clocks to a much higher degree than people in the USA.

Is the term Floor Clock the first one that comes to mind when thinking about a grandfather clock. We would very much like to know! Does it roll off the tongue? Is grandfather clock a poor second choice to describe a grand father clock? Please add comments and leave your opinion.

We also wonder about mantle clocks vs. mantel clocks. More and more we see people using the mantle clocks spelling of the word. Both are correct. What’s your opinion. We’d like to know! Please share it with us any time you like.

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