April 15--The two iconic cast bronze clocks that hang on what once was Marshall Field's on State Street were getting a long overdue makeover Wednesday morning.
At the corners of Washington and State and Randolph and State, workers painted the faded Roman numerals on the clocks' 46-inch wide faces with a black oil paint. This is the first such makeover in decades, according to Andrea Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Macy's.
"It was time. It needed to be done," Schwartz said. "We had enough people telling us, 'Hey, I can't see those Roman numerals anymore.' "
The clocks, which are both well over 100 years old, gained notoriety in 1945 when Norman Rockwell painted a Saturday Evening Post cover of a repairman setting the time according to his own pocket watch. The painting is on permanent display at the Chicago History Museum.
In 2009, the clocks were rewired to a GPS system, Schwartz said. Now, four times per day, satellite technology assures that their wooden hands are accurate -- even as they are being repaired.
"The clock continues to tick while this is happening," Schwartz said.
mmrodriguez@tribune.com
