Black Forest of Germany

The Black Forest is a region in south-west Germany. It was know to be one the largest clock making areas in the world.  It started as local farmers were looking for some indoor work that could be done during the hard winter months. They took up woodworking and woodcarving. Someone had a wooden clock and from that they came up with the idea to start making clocks.

The early clocks had wooden wheels and  frames, the weight that powered it was a stone on a string. The clocks only ran for 12 hours. Later wood wheels were replaced by brass wheels.  A clock maker needed one week to make one simple clock. They progressed to two people making 10 such clocks in a week. As the years went on the business turned into a large enterprise for the area. They did not start out making cuckoo clocks even though that region is famous for them. They still make cuckoo clocks because the consumer is used to the west German quality and are not interested in cheap imitations.  

If you ever get a chance to visit the Black Forest region of Germany, here is a website that gives the history of their clock making. There you can tour clock museums, clock companies, workshops and studios of clock shield painters. http://www.deutscheuhrenstrasse.de/uhrimschwarzwalden.htm 

This is a place I would love to visit and see where it all started by farmers looking for something to do in the winter.

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight saving has caused controversy since it began and continues today. Many areas of the world do not use daylight saving time. DST's clock shifts have the obvious disadvantage of complexity.  People must remember to change their clocks. This can be time-consuming, particularly for mechanical clocks that cannot be moved backwards safely.

The history of standard time in the United States began November 18, 1883 when United States and Canadian railroads instituted standard time in time zones. Before then, time of day was a local matter, and most cities and towns used some form of  local solar time, maintained by some well-know clock (for example, on a church steeple or in a jeweler's window). The new standard time system was not immediately embraced by all. Use of standard time gradually increased because of its obvious practical advantages for communication and travel. Standard time in time zones was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act. The act also established daylight saving time, itself a contentious idea. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, but standard time in time zones remained in law. Daylight saving time became a local matter. It was re-established nationally early in WWII, and was continuously observed until the end of the war. After the war its use varied among states and localities.

Here on the east coast we observe DST so Atlantans turn your clocks back Sunday. On your mechanical clocks, stop the pendulum for at least an hour and then start it up again and set the hands to the correct time moving the hands forward only.