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Found for Keeps: History you can hold in your hands—passed from one caretaker to the next.
Long before your phone could remind you where you parked—or that your meter was about to expire—there was this.
The B-M-C Park-Timer was a wonderfully simple solution to a very ordinary problem: remembering when you parked the car.
A driver could turn the small wheel on the side to move the numbered indicator behind the window marked “PARKED AT.” Attached to a ball-chain keychain, the little device could stay with the car keys as a pocket-sized reminder of when the parking clock started ticking.
No batteries. No electronics. No notification popping up on a screen.
Just turn the dial—and remember to get back to the car. 😁
Devices like this belong to the era when parking meters were becoming an increasingly familiar part of American city life and motorists needed new ways to keep track of limited parking time. It\'s a small object, but one that captures a very specific change in everyday automobile life.
The front is marked “B-M-C,” “PARK-TIMER,” “PATS PEND” and “PARKED AT.” The numbered indicator and adjustment wheel are still present, along with the attached metal ball chain.
Approximately 3 inches long for the metal body, based on the measurements shown in the photographs.
Vintage used condition with substantial surface wear, scratches, discoloration, oxidation/patina and other signs of age and use. The numbered indicator is visible through the window. Please review all photographs closely for condition and details.
A fun little piece of vintage automobilia from a time when remembering the parking meter required a gadget of its own.
