Holland History: Howard Miller makes millions of clocks

May 27, 2023

Howard Miller’s passion was clock-making.

He was born in 1905 to Herman and Nellie Breen Miller.

While attending Zeeland High School, Howard worked for his brother-in-law, DJ DePree, at the Herman Miller Furniture Company. He didn’t graduate. When attending the Grand Rapids College and Telegraphic Institute, present-day Davenport College, in 1925, he cut short his studies to surprise his girlfriend, Martha Muller, who with her sister, Dena Muller, of Standard Grocery, was boarding a ship headed for the Mediterranean.

Howard then continued his studies at Mauthe, a clock-making company in Schwenningen, Germany.

In 1926, after his father purchased the idle Wolverine Furniture Company at 31 W. Washington Ave. to form the Herman Miller Clock Company, Howard worked there. To avoid a tariff on fully assembled clock movements, Herman Miller also entered into an agreement with Haans Winterhalder of Germany to form the Herman Miller Movement Company.

Later, when the tax law changed, the company was dissolved, but the focus on precision clock-making continued. By then, Herman Miller had much at stake: he managed and owned part of the Colonial Clock Company, and he owned significant stakes in the Herman Miller Furniture and Herman Miller Clock Companies.

Howard and Martha Muller married in 1928. They had two sons, Jack and Philip, and a daughter, Connie. The family first lived in a traditional-style home at 27 Wall Street; later they built a modern-style house at 424 W. Lawrence Ave.

During the Depression, Howard took over management of the Herman Miller Clock Company. While Gilbert Rohde’s designs saved Herman Miller Furniture, they didn't save Herman Miller Clock. But Howard didn't give up. Although Martha suggested he take a job at the post office, Howard instead took the $5,000 accumulated in his life insurance policy and bought back part of his old company.

Because H. L. Hubbell of Grand Rapids had purchased his factory, Howard rented the southwest portion of the closed Lowry-Sligh factory at 112 W. Washington Ave. — vacant because Sligh had moved to the former Zeeland Furniture and, then, the Dutch Woodcraft Company building at 361 Main St.

During WWII, Howard’s company produced anti-aircraft covers and glider parts. In 1945, Howard and Martha incorporated the Howard Miller Clock Company. In 1948, as sales grew, Howard added the brick-fronted building at 110 W. Washington Ave. — and later a brick warehouse in the rear. He also introduced the George Nelson-designed ball, spike and spindle clock.

As a teenager, Phil Miller remembers carrying wooden clock cases from the east building to the west building, where their movements were attached, and cleaning out sawdust accumulated in the trough in the middle of the manufacturing floor.

In 1954, Jack Miller joined the company. By then, it had 35-40 employees. In the 1960s, the company began manufacturing grandfather clocks on a contract basis. Then it began manufacturing and selling them under its own brand name.

As sales grew, the company purchased 15 acres of property on the southeast corner of Main Street and Fairview Road, across from Herman Miller’s new plant, and built a factory there in 1965. In 1966, Phil Miller joined the company. Then, the company acquired Grand Prix Lumiere, a maker of lighting fixtures and lamps. In 1969, 1972, and 1975, it expanded its production capacity.

In 1974, Howard became chairman, Jack became president and CEO, and Phil became executive vice president. Jack focused on operations and Phil focused on marketing and sales.

In 1983, the company acquired Hekman Furniture, a maker of desks, tables, and computer cabinets, and Alexis Manufacturing, a maker of finely crafted chairs. It also built a new administration building.

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Howard Miller retired as chairman in 1990. In 1993, the company acquired Woodmark Upholstery of High Point, North Carolina and Kieninger, a German clock company. In 1994, it purchased Dimensional Products, a maker of curio cabinets, and three businesses from Woodcraft, Inc. It also expanded its plant.

When Howard Miller died in 1995, his company had 500,000 square feet of factory space in Zeeland, 600 employees, and a library dedicated to its founder.

By 2001, the company had made 15 million clocks. In 2002, Jack retired and Phil became CEO. The company next acquired clock and furniture manufacturers in China. Today Jack’s son, Howard “Buzz” Miller, leads the Howard Miller Companies.

Information for this article comes from Robert Swierenga’s "Holland, Michigan," Lena Williams of the New York Times, Andrew Dervan’s “Herman Miller Clock Company and Howard Miller Clock Company,” the Zeeland Historical Society’s Timeline (Fall 2021), and Phil Miller.

— Community Columnist Steve VanderVeen is a resident of Holland. Contact him through start-upacademeinc.com.