For decades this clock, on the Kaufmann’s department store at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street, marked the busiest corner of Pittsburgh’s retail district. “Under the clock” was the designated meeting-place downtown, and Kaufmann’s premier restaurant was called the Tic-Toc in its honor.
The Kaufmann’s building (like everything else) is being redeveloped as condominium apartments, and the clock is featured prominently in the advertising art.
It used to be the largest, but it was surpassed by the clock on the Istanbul Cevahir shopping mall in 2005, which in turn was surpassed by the almost comically enormous Mecca Clock in 2011. But the Duquesne Brewery clock is still the largest clock face in the Western Hemisphere, and it is the South Side’s most visible landmark, easily readable from across the river. Since the brewery stopped brewing, it has carried various advertisements; but for the moment it carries no message, except for the time, which is still correct.
