WAUKESHA, Wis. | Bill Galinsky has likely heard the call of the American cowbird more times than an ornithologist.
The European cuckoo, too -- Galinsky hears that bird all day, every day. Whether it's the 20 cuckoo clocks in his home or the hundreds he has built or collected or is currently repairing in his workshop, cuckoo calls are the sound track to Galinsky's life.
Galinsky is among a very small cohort of cuckoo clock repairers. He invents innovative cuckoo clock designs, he carves them and brings family heirlooms back from the dead.
"Nobody likes to repair cuckoo clocks. Most aren't willing to do something that requires so much patience," said Galinsky.
Galinsky, 55, repairs about 200 cuckoo clocks each year out of his Wisconsin buisiness. He estimates he makes another couple hundred clocks annually that he sells from his showroom inside a store built to look like those on the Swiss chalet-style cuckoo clocks.
He got his first cuckoo clock when he was almost 7 years old, when his father, a mason who loved to prowl rummage sales, bought a Schmeckenbecher for a quarter. It was in pieces. Galinsky looked at the clock's bones and metal muscles and reassembled it. He still has that first clock. Plus many others.
"People overthink clocks. They think it's rocket science but it's just simple physics. You make this work by doing this," he said.
By the age of 9, without the benefit of manuals but after tinkering with numerous time pieces, he understood how cuckoo clocks worked.
The clocks that show up on his door stoop in the worst shape, though, are those that are damaged by their owners. "Guys taking them apart - that's worse than fires," said Galinsky.
Vern Coenen has taken numerous mantle and wall clocks to Galinsky for cleaning and repair, after seeing his sign earlier this year.
"He's great. Every time I go out there I know it's going to be at least half an hour before I get out of there because we both love clocks," said Coenen, who recently dropped off an early 1900s mantle clock for repair. "His collection is unbelievable. He's just such an enthusiast."
Before he returns cleaned and repaired clocks to his customers, he carefully sets the correct time. He uses his flip phone for that -- Galinsky doesn't wear a watch.
