Whenever I am back in the Decorah area for any reason or for any length of time, I am always tempted to get in my car and drive 14 miles south to a charming little town called Spillville and visit the Bily Clocks. It’s a place I remember visiting back in my elementary school days and at least once during my four years at Luther – and several times since then. Among the most memorable was a visit with Kathy (before we were married) and our friends Lynn and Walter. I can remember the bewilderment of all three of them at the thought of visiting a “clock museum” – but I assured them that they would love it. And they DID! And during my most recent visit to Decorah, for the wedding of our friend Justin Marschall, I persuaded my friend Bob Gluck to accompany me on a quick Saturday morning excursion down to Spillville while our wives went shopping in downtown Decorah. Bob is one of the most agreeable guys I’ve ever met and he was game, despite not having much idea just what this was going to be all about. It’s just not very easy to explain the charming and inspiring story of the Bily Brothers – nor is it easy to convey the splendor of the magnificent clocks which they created. You simply have to go there and experience it for yourself. It’s as simple as that.
Joseph and Frank Bily (rhymes with “steely”) were born on their parents’ farm outside of Spillville in 1880 and 1884, respectively – the sons of parents who came from Prague in what we now call the Czech Republic. Joseph and Frank were both farmers and carpenters, but at some point they also began carving as a hobby. Their father thought it was a complete waste of time, but their mother- who was a rather artistically-inclined person, did all she could to encourage it. The compromise that was eventually reached was that the boys would only carve during the winter when there was a little less work to do on the farm.
Joseph and Frank had two other siblings, and they both figure in the story of the famous clocks that the brothers would someday create. Their older brother, Jonathan, was both mentally and physically handicapped and basically housebound and confined to a wheelchair. Sometime in the early teens of the 20th century, a Norwegian neighbor of the Bilys stopped by with a clock which he had carved but which was not working properly. The brothers were well known for their carpentry skills, so this neighbor asked if they would be willing to help him by installing a proper mechanism into the clock. As the two brothers worked on the clock in their attic, they noticed that Jonathan was completely captivated as he watched them work- and also captivated by the clock itself once it was operating correctly. it was partly because of Jonathan and his keen interest that inspired Frank and Joseph in the winter of 1913 to begin carving clocks of their own. (By this point, they were 29 and 33 years old, respectively.) And as their collection of splendid clocks grew, more and more people came to the Bily Farm to view them – so many, in fact, that it made it difficult for the Bilys to do their work. They decided to charge each visitor ten cents in the hopes that the admission fee would discourage visitors from coming, but even more came! Frank and Joseph decided that their youngest sibling, Anna, who actually conducted the tours, should keep all of the money herself in order to give a greater measure of financial security both to her and to Jonathan, for whom she was the primary caregiver.
As for these clocks, they are amazing creations – each one as a unique and precious work of art, and also when viewed collectively. The first clocks are astonishingly beautiful and intricate, including my personal favorite in the collection: The Apostles’ Clock from 1916, which is an exquisite tribute to the famous clock that adorns Prague’s city square (which Kathy and I have seen.) The later clocks are distinctive for how they represent the Bily Brothers keen interest in the wider world. There’s the American Pioneer History Clock, which features carved scenes of all kinds of crucial moments in the history of North America. The Statuary Clock has a cabinet filled with carved busts of important historical figures such as Shakespeare, Lincoln, Ibsen, and others. The History of Travel Clock features various scenes which depict the development of various modes of transportation around the world. And one of the smallest yet most intriguing clocks is the Lindbergh Clock, which is shaped like a small airplane, with a bust of Charles Lindbergh perched inside of it. The Bily Brothers were inspired to build the clock not long after they heard the news of the aviator’s historic transatlantic flight over the radio. (They didn’t own a radio of their own; they heard the news via the radio at their favorite local watering hole.) Other notable clocks (I couldn’t possibly mention them all) include one of the plainest of all their clocks- which is also one of the most astonishing. The All Wooden Clock has wooden works, gears and mechanisms all carved from walnut – and the face of the clock includes not only an hour hand, minute hand and second hand, but also an additional hand which charts the day of the month. There is the Hall Cuckoo Clock which sports two different cuckoos, each with its own distinctive song – one a traditional Swedish cuckoo, and the other one German. And there is also a beautiful clock that says a lot about the humility of the gifted Bily Brothers. The Old Swedish Clock, at the time it was given to the them for repairs, was already over a hundred years old. The brothers repaired it, added several figures to it, and also constructed a proper base for it – and they adopted a rougher, simpler carving style so their additions would blame seamlessly with what was already there.
It was only on this most recent tour of the Bily Clocks that I heard the story of how all of these clocks were almost lost. If I remember correctly, it was after both Jonathan and Anna had died that Frank and Joseph began to wonder if there was any reason to hold on to all of these clocks, since they had no children to whom they could be willed. (None of the four Bily siblings ever married.) The story goes that they actually built a huge fire and had just begun throwing scraps into it before a concerned neighbor came across the scene and persuaded the brothers to explore other options. Soon after, the Bily Brothers purchased a small vacant building in nearby Spillville – the building where, in the summer of 1893, famed composer Antonin Dvorak had lived – where all of the clocks could be safely stored and conveniently viewed by the public. In 1947, the brothers made provisions for the clocks to become the property of the town once they had died – but with the stipulation that the clocks must remain together as one collection, never to be separated in any way, and never to be sold nor lent to any other institution.
As the brothers grew older, carving became increasingly difficult – and one can see that in the appearance of the later clocks. Most poignant of all are several incomplete clocks which are also on display – clocks which they began but were unable to finish due to the encroachment of old age. Whenever I visit the museum and see those incomplete clocks, I always get a lump in my throat – because it shows how our time on this earth does not and cannot last forever – and when one is fortunate enough to live into old age, there is almost always the misfortune of giving up something that has given one pleasure but which is no longer a possibility. This time around, I found myself teary when I looked at the wooden placard which the brothers carved which welcomed visitors to their farm and informed them of the admission charge of ten cents. I thought of their kind, compassionate devotion to their two siblings and their hope that these clocks could help ensure that Jonathan and Anna would always be safe and secure. (Here’s a remarkable little story: when electricians came to the Bily farm to install electricity for the very first time – I believe in the late 1950’s – one of the workers discovered hundreds of rolls of dimes which Anna had painstakingly stored away beneath the floor boards and behind the walls of her bedroom …. stored for the day when she or Jonathan might someday need them. Frank and Joseph believed that money did not belong to them, and they allowed the electrician to take it with their blessing.) But the moment in the tour that always brings a tear to my eye, without fail, is when the docent talks about the American Pioneer History Clock, which to my amateur eye appears to be the most massive of the Bily Clocks and is widely regarded as their masterpiece. The story goes that Henry Ford saw this clock in 1928 and offered the brothers one million dollars for it – but they politely turned him down. They never sold any of their clocks.
The clocks represent not only the astounding talent and discipline of Frank and Joseph Bily, but also their relentless quest to understand the world and its history. The two had only a fifth grade education (fairly typical for the time and place in which they grew up) but were voracious readers – and in the upstairs of the museum, one can see a small portion of their massive personal library as well as the amazing array of items which they collected. And downstairs, where the actual clocks are stored, one can also see the hundreds of tools they used- many of which are themselves handmade and utterly unique to this collection.
I almost wish someone could bring this amazing story to the attention of Steven Spielberg or James Cameron or some other major filmmaker – because I wish the whole world could know about these clocks. But even more than the clocks, I want the whole world to know about Frank and Joseph Bily …. their talent, their inquisitiveness, their vision, and their kindness and generosity. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that Hollywood is probably the last place one should look for this story to be properly told. And in the end, one only grasps the true greatness of these two men and the immensity of what they accomplished by making your way to Spillville, Iowa and viewing these amazing clocks for yourselves.
pictured above: Just four of the famous Bily Clocks. left to right: the Parade of Nations Clock, the Statuary Clock, the American Pioneer History Clock (the one for which Henry Ford offered the brothers a million dollars – in vain), and the Apostles’ Parade Clock.