What is a Vomit Clock?
VOMIT CLOCKS!, a popular Facebook group, defines vomit clocks as:
VOMIT CLOCKS was a 1960/70s mid-century craft trend where one incorporated rocks or other items (dead insects, dried plants, glitter, shells, ect) into a mold (clock, animal, trivet, plate) and then poured a clear or colored resin which hardened into the molded object.
Urban Dictionary has its own definition. Urban Dictionary describes vomit clocks as:
A mid-century trend where it was fashionable to suspend pieces of rocks and glass in color resin, often made into mantlepiece clocks. The result looks like regurgitated gelatin salad full of fruit bits. The term “vomit clock” came into popularity on a thrift store Facebook page. Any other object made this way can be called “vomit.”
The Vomit Clock Museum, while very appreciative of the various shaped molds that one can pour resin into to make a “vomit-style” object, is currently focusing mainly on clocks. One day the Vomit Clock Museum may expand its focus.
Why is it called a Vomit Clock? How did the phrase Vomit Clock come into being?
According to a Facebook group, VOMIT CLOCKS!, the phrase “vomit clocks” came into being the same way that the lightning rod, black-hole theory, and calculus came into being: by two different people, hundreds of miles away from each other, at the same time. (This concept is called multiple discovery).
According to VOMIT CLOCKS!:
On the Facebook page, ‘Weird Second Hand Items That Need to be Shared”, the term “vomit clock” came into being and popularity in September 2018. ‘Vomit Clock’ was originally used to describe a Lanshire Clock face embedded in a mantle clock form that had small stones covered in a hard clear resin.
The descriptive word VOMIT CLOCK was used in the same post by two people. Both did not see the other comment, it was completely serendipitous. Members of the group found it descriptively hilarious. Thus, VOMIT CLOCKS was born and the term quickly caught on.
This post on September 16th, 2018, by Sherry Thaxton Rozas, is credited as one of the original mentions of the phrase. There have also been reports of a single thrift store who claims to be the original source of the word.
These lucite clocks are colloquially called “vomit clocks” because…you guessed it: the chunks of items encased in resin often resemble puke.
Since that post, the phrase has spread across Facebook groups, including popular ones like Weird Secondhand Finds That Just Need To Be Shared, with wild abandon. People take great joy in naming the “types” of vomit they see.
Below is a Google trends graph charting the popularity and use of the term “vomit clock” across the past 5 years.
A secondary reason that the phrase “vomit clocks” is so popular is that there is no other easy way to describe these clocks. For example, “vintage clock with stuff inside,” “old plastic clock with bits of junk in it,” and “lucite 1950s Lanshire clock face clock” could all be how one describes same clock. Prior to “vomit clock,” there was no terminology in place to describe them.
The phrase “vomit clock” unifies the description of both these specific vintage clocks and the broader embedded art resin movement.
What are Vomit Clocks made of?
Vintage vomit clocks are made of clear or colored acrylic resin plus the objects embedded inside of them. On online vintage resale platforms, many sellers of these clocks describe them as being composed of “Lucite.”
What is acrylic resin?
According to the Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online (CAMEO), a project to catalogue art materials by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, acrylic resin is a “colorless, thermoplastic polymer or copolymer of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or acrylonitrile” that has been sold in the U.S. as a glass substitute since 1931. Common and popular brand names for acrylic resin products include Perspex®, Plexiglas®, Plexigum®, and Lucite®.
What is Lucite?
Lucite is an acrylic plastic developed by DuPont in 1931, according to Century Manufacturing. An advertisement from DuPont announcing Lucite as a product was published in 1928, according to the Hagley Digital Archives. Regardless of the exact date, most publications cite Lucite’s appearance and consumer marketing beginning in the 1930s.
The Lucite International website mentions that Lucite as an accessory became especially popular in the 1950s.
[Graphic replicated from the Our Heritage page of the Lucite International website. A sepia-toned photograph of a round lucite handbag is imposed over a grey background with “1950s” on the left. The following text is to the right of the purse: “Post-war America sees a boom in luxury fashion items. A purse made from LUCITE acrylic becomes the must have accessory.”]
What’s inside Vomit Clocks?
Traditional vomit clocks commonly have stones, pebbles, shells, glass, and mother of pearl or abalone pieces inside of them. Theoretically, anything that can be encased in resin can be found inside a vomit clock!
Vomit Clocks look like they have teeth inside them!
Yes. Some of the fun of vomit clocks is the joy of naming what the vomit clock innards look like. Members of Facebook groups like VOMIT CLOCKS! enjoy creatively describing what is inside of these clocks.
How were Vomit Clocks made?
While the history of vomit clocks is still being uncovered, we know that vomit clocks were made at home as a craft project, through kits.
Similar to resin art today, a mold of some sort would be filled with pour-able resin/Lucite and the objects the creator wanted inside (glass, rocks, pebbles, etc). After curing for a certain amount of time, the mold would be removed and the creator would have a finished, hardened, standalone clock.
One of the brands that produced the clock components for these kits was called Lanshire (scroll down to read more about this company).
It is unknown if vomit clocks were mass produced. More research is needed on this topic.
Why were Vomit Clocks made?
It is suspected that Vomit Clocks were produced mainly as a DIY craft kit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. However, the “why” is largely unknown. While there are examples of beautiful vomit clocks, many results are unpleasing to the eye (which is why they are colloquially named vomit clocks).
What about this aesthetic was pleasing to mid-century crafters? How did this trend become popular? Where did it originate, regionally? How were vomit clocks sold? There are many un-answered questions, and this is why the Vomit Clock Museum exists: to get to the bottom of this intriguing, mysterious, mid-century home décor and craft trend.
What is the Lanshire Corporation, and what does it have to do with Vomit Clocks?
One of the companies responsible for Vomit Clocks appears to be a clock manufacturing company called Lanshire, begun in Chicago, IL, in the 1950s.
View more information on the Lanshire Corporation here.
When were Vomit Clocks made?
Vomit clocks, according to vintage sellers, were produced between the 1950s and the 1970s. More research is needed on this topic. More information will be shared when it is discovered.
Where can I find Vomit Clocks?
True vintage vomit clocks are largely found in second-hand markets and websites. Thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, church rummage sales, vintage boutiques, Ebay, Etsy, Craiglist, and Facebook marketplace are great locations to find a vomit clock of your own.
How do I care for my vomit clock?
Acrylic resin, which many vomit clocks are made of, has positives and negatives.
According to Los Angeles Times article on famous acrylic designer Charles Hollis Jones, The Incredible Lightness of Being Plastic, acrylic’s downsides can be mitigated with care and upkeep:
The downsides of acrylic—it scratches easily, attracts dust and at times becomes a cloudy blue or yellow with age—are easily remedied, Jones says. Jeweler’s rouge and a buffing wheel can be used to polish it to its original smoothness, while 210, an acrylic cleaner, keeps away dust and discourages coloring caused by dryness and exposure to the sun. “You’ve got to keep acrylic moist so it doesn’t dry out. Think of it like a good piece of lacquered furniture.”
How can I make my own Vomit Clock?
We are working on that. Sign up here to be notified about when make-your-own vomit clock kits are ready!
I have information about Vomit Clocks that I want to share with the Museum.
Great! We want to hear! Please reach out to us here.
How can I learn more about Vomit Clocks?
Right now, not many primary resources exist about the history of vomit clocks. This is why the Vomit Clock Museum was created.
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Vomit Clock Museum resources and references
Feel free to browse the below resources to learn more about vomit clocks and acrylic resin.
- The Rise of Vomit Art
- DuPont Announces Lucite (1928 Magazine Advertisement, Hagley Collection)
- The Godfather of Lucite (Ravelin Magazine)
- The Incredible Lightness of Being Plastic (2001, The Los Angeles Times)
- Lucite’s appeal is transparent, if you take a look