Particles of radium and radioactive watch dials were left there almost a century ago by young women who swallowed radium-laden paint used by the Waterbury Clock Co. from 1919 to 1927.

The radium-dial people were of unique interest to the Atomic Energy Commission at the time because plutonium had just been created and was thought to be very dangerous,” said Robert E. Rowland ...

If I had a watch or clock with a radium dial, I`d get rid of it, probably to a responsible collector, one with lead shorts. But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very ...

The old clock stopped, but time moved on. Like the clock, we mark moments—until one day we stop, too, while time itself ...

The young women sat in rows, heads bent, painting numbers on paper watch and clock faces with luminous paint. The numbers on the wristwatches and clock dials were so tiny, the workers needed a ...

The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. Back then, radium wasn’t considered to be dangerous in small doses.

When the war ended, the contract did, too. Then Radium Dial, a subsidiary of U.S. Radium, started making dials for watches in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York.

Painting the dials of the watches and clocks at the Radium Dial Company was a coveted job for women in the 1920s: it paid eight cents per watch, and a worker could complete more than 100 per day.

The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. Back then, radium wasn’t considered to be dangerous in small doses.