(Dean, Department Chair of Railroad Operations Technology and instructor of railroad history at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City, Iowa)

The Bunn Special was a particular type of pocket watch. The pocket watch, of course, has become a symbol of railroading almost as much as a steam locomotive. Trains had to be on time not just to infer dependability, but more practically to avoid accidents.

Before a devastating accident in 1891, caused by a conductor's faulty clock, railroaders could use any type of watch or time mechanism. After the accident the railroad industry demanded that railroaders carry only approved watches, and they must be accurate to 30 seconds in 14 days. Jewelry stores were often located near railroad stations so that railroaders could bring their watches in to be cleaned, repaired and calibrated. Only a few companies made mechanisms to these standards: Hamilton, Waltham, Illinois, and Elgin.

When the Illinois Watch Company went out of business after World War I, a jeweler in Sioux City purchased crates of the Illinois mechanisms. He then purchased watch cases from another company, and placed in them the approved Illinois mechanism. The jeweler called these watches "Bunn Specials" and placed them for sale at a reduced price.

Conductors and engineers at first were reluctant to buy these watches, even though the mechanisms were definitely "railroad approved." The jeweler realized that he had to promote his hybrid product. He then had an idea. Why not let a railroader take the watch upon making a down payment offer? He could then pay the remainder of the amount with a portion of his paycheck over a period of time.

For an incentive each time the railroad worker would make a payment, the jeweler would give him a free ticket to the movie theater across the street. The amount of payment doubled each time until the watch was eventually paid for.

News of the Bunn Special spread quickly among the workers of the Milwaukee Road and then other railroads. Then to railroaders in other towns. They all liked buying a good watch at a cheaper price and paying it off over a period of time. Then too, they liked the idea of relaxing in the new-fangled moving picture show.

The ideas of installment buying and the movie theater promotion were picked up quickly by other merchants throughout the region. So the Bunn Special took its place in the hierarchy of railroad pocket watches, as has installment buying and promotions in daily commerce.