I saw a piece written about these clocks, apparently they actually go back to the early 1800's, and were used as "Carriage clocks" Since they were portable, horse drawn carriages would use them for the driver, and passengers to know the time.
From wikipedia:
A carriage clock is a small, spring-driven clock, designed for travelling, developed in the early 19th century in France, where they were also known as "Officers' Clocks". The first carriage clock was invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet for the Emperor Napoleon in 1812. The case, usually plain or gilt-brass, is rectangular with a carrying handle and often set with glass or more rarely enamel or porcelain panels. A feature of carriage clocks is the platform escapement, sometimes visible through a glazed aperture on the top of the case. Carriage clocks use a balance and balance spring for timekeeping and replaced the larger pendulum bracket clock. The factory of Armand Couaillet, in Saint-Nicolas d'Aliermont (France) made thousand of carriage clocks between 1880 and 1920.
The Flip clocks are usually named "Plato" Link here:
http://blog.onlineclock.net/history-of-digital-clocks-watches/Some nice photos of them here:
I like the blue in this 1903 version: