By ANDREA McCANN
Indiana Correspondent

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Take time to check out the Memory Lane Clocks booth in the Family Living Center at the National Farm Machinery Show, and you may find a timepiece that becomes the focal point of your home.

The business focuses on German Black Forest Cuckoo clocks, according to owner Randy Schmidt, and only sells online and on the road.

“The cuckoos are all hand-carved, hand-stained and hand-assembled in the Black Forest of Germany,” Schmidt said. “They’ve been made in the Black Forest since the 1700s.”

Even the brass and steel movements are made in Germany, he said, although they’re now mass-produced. If the clock plays music, the music box is made in Switzerland, because he said the Swiss do that best.

There’s a variety of cuckoo clock designs from which to choose, including one that looks like a traditional German chalet. The clocks also do various things on the hour, Schmidt said. For instance, from one clock, a couple of guys drinking beer pop out. He said the price range for a cuckoo clock is $170-$1,500.

Memory Lane Clocks also carries a line of rhythm clocks that play music on the hour. Schmidt said the clocks play many different tunes, and a number of them also do something else as they play. He described one whose dials spin, then break open like flower petals, and inside it’s like a Ferris wheel.

“At night, when the room is dark, they automatically shut down,” he said.

The rhythm clocks run $100-$450, come in wall and mantel styles and play everything from “Blue Danube” to “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” to “Hey Jude.”

“Each clock will typically play different songs,” Schmidt said. “One clock has the option to play one of six different Beatles songs. Or, you can switch to one of six different folk songs. When Christmastime rolls around, you can switch to one of six different Christmas songs.”

He said approximately 100 models will be on display at the show, and clocks may be purchased there or ordered. Purchases can be shipped so the buyer doesn’t have to carry them around the show or on a plane.

“There’s something there for everyone,” Schmidt said. “Clocks are something you can use for your lifetime and pass down. If you want something to hand down to your children, we have it. If you want something to entertain guests at home, we have it.”

Along with clocks, the Memory Lane booth will offer personalized cake pans that are engraved while you wait. The 9-by-13-inch aluminum pans have a powder-coated, scratch-resistant lid that comes in blue, green, red or burgundy. Buyers may select from more than 130 designs and choose whatever wording they want to be engraved on the pan lids.

“We can put whatever you want on it,” Schmidt said. “We just did one that said ‘Baked with Love from Martha’s Manifold.’ We can do ‘Baked with Love from Martha’s Kitchen’ or ‘Burnt to a Crisp in Martha’s Kitchen’ – whatever you want.

“It’s an excellent way to personalize food when you go to somebody’s home or a church bazaar, or whatever. It’s all the same price. If you want to put the Gettysburg Address on it, we’ll do it. It’s $22.95. It makes a great gift.”