Though each vomit clock is certainly unique and striking, varying widely between colors and decoration choices; each vomit clock relies on one simple thing for its creation: a mold. These molds, that the artist pours resin into to create a hardened shape to be filled with small objects or peculiarities, are unfortunately no longer sold and can be quite difficult to find.
Janna Hasselbring, a collector, troll doll artist, and a member of the Vomit Clocks Facebook group, is one of the rare few who currently owns a mold once used to make vomit clocks.
Hasselbring’s vomit clock mold. Photo supplied by Janna Hasselbring. The text says “DF1957 595” on the top and “VOL 54 OZ” on the bottom.
Hasselbring bought the molds from another collector who owned a variety of molds and sold his own creations that he cast from the molds. This mold collector was not acquainted with the practice and once-popularity of creating vomit clocks but did know well the clock-making process and even pointed Hasselbring to the companies in Kalamazoo that commonly made the inserts for the clock and the resin to pour in the mold.
Hasselbring has used her mold to make a vomit clock of her own – one with a quite unique design choice even by the standards of the somewhat outlandish vomit clocks. Instead of filling her vomit clock with the usual rocks or bits of glass, Hasselbring created a clock that she filled with plastic doll hands. Her both bold and unconventional filling choice is the perfect homage to the vomit clock trend which embraced the new and unusual, as well as a witty nod to the phrase, ‘hands of time.’
Hasselbring’s vomit clock, entitled “You Cannot Stop the Hands of Time”
Expanding the possibilities for what a vomit clock mold can be used for, Hasselbring also loves to use her mold to make ice. Instead of filling the mold with resin, simply filling it with water and freezing it creates a beautiful and ornate clock made of ice, perfect for a fancy party or a winter garden decoration.
The ice Hasselbring created from her vomit clock molds. Photos supplied by Janna Hasselbring.
Though unfortunately most vomit clock molds have quietly vanished from the market, those such as what Hasselbring owns serve as evidence of the tools for creating vomit clocks. Hasselbring’s own creativity and enthusiasm for using her mold in news ways perfectly represents vomit clocks’ spirit of individuality that the Vomit Clock Museum is so proud to display.