The Statue of Liberty is an vision which immediately comes to mind whenever most people think of the United States of America. But if three watchmaking brothers had their way, the image of the Statue of Liberty would be very different than it is today.
The iconic sculpure has is no stranger to publicity stunt attempts. In its first hundred years she was almost sponsored by a laxative, a soap company offered to give her a bath and she almost became the proud owner of her very own custom made wrist watch. In today’s post we’re going to learn all about the wrist watch the Statue of Liberty nearly became the proud owner of.
The Lazarus Brothers and The Statue of Liberty
The Lazarus brothers (Benjamin, Oscar and Ralph Lazarus) were three Romanian immigrants who founded the BENRUS Watch Company in 1921. The brothers opened a shop in Lower Manhattan which was not too far from the Battery, which allowed them to have a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty.
In 1926 the incredible Statue of Liberty gave the Lazarus brothers an idea. They offered to create a giant illuminated wristwatch which would look pretty cool and let people see the iconic sculpture at night.
It would also be a pretty awesome bit of advertising for the BENRUS Watch Company.
The ideas were put forward to The War Department, who had control of the Statue of Liberty ever since the Lighthouse Board realised it was the worst lighthouse of all time! And they told the press at the time that they considered it but, in the end, they decided against it.
Surprisingly enough, they didn’t decide against it because they thought that advertising on the Statue of Liberty would ruin her image. But because they believed that a watch was “too modern an ornament” to place upon the wrist of such a classic figure. It’s fair to say that they were probably right – could you imagine if they added an iPhone attached to a selfie stick to the Statue of Liberty today?
Another concern of the government officials was that accepting the gift of a watch may open the door to all sorts of extra additions. For example, “gowns from fashionable modistes and latest styles of haircuts from beauty parlor specialists.” Which, lets be fair, is exactly what happened when David Beckham jumped on board the endorsements gravy train.
News reporters jumped on this news almost as soon as it broke. One describing the statue as being devastated and crying after hearing the decision and another even quoted her as saying that “nobody has suggested a pair of zippers—no, not even an umbrella.” And it’s hard to disagree with her point… she does have to spend a lot of time out in the snow and rain without any shelter!!
In the end, the statue of Liberty didn’t end up getting her wristwatch… and 90 years later she still sports the exact same look she did on the day she arrived on Liberty Island. But, who knows, maybe one day she may receive her very own Rolex, Hamilton or, who knows, maybe even an Apple Watch!
