Since time immemorial, man has been fascinated with time and tried to capture the effervescence of its fleeting nature in a bottle. The next best thing man could do was mark the passing of time with crude makeshift devices they fashioned from indigenous materials around them. Finally, the pendulum triggered the creation of grandfather clocks and telling the time was never the same again.
From Seasons to Days and Finally To Hours and Minutes
There were no grandfather clocks then, but man managed to tell the time by the passing of the seasons, not by the passage of hours. They told the time by the shadow the sun and moon cast on earth. The compelling need to know the time is tied to man's attachment to Mother Nature and the bounty with which she blessed those who toiled hard in the fields.
Before biblical times, man counted the seasons, watched summer change into winter, and glorified in the earth's rebirth in springtime. They knew through the changes of the season if it was the time to sow their wheat or barley or harvest the golden fields heavy with the life-giving grains.
They also watched the skies for the telltale red sunset and prepared themselves against the harbinger of floods and draught. Time was the passage of day into night and back again in the endless cycle of life. Time was not measured with the accuracy that the world has today - from digital small timepieces to tall clocks. They only had the seasons, day and night, and the ebb and flow of the tides to help them manage their personal and social activities.
Each generation contributed to the perfection of telling the time. Sundials, the hourglass, and candles were used to tell the hour. The crude devices eventually gave way to more convenient time-telling mechanisms; the bell or the gong, for instance, sounded the time for prayer.
But historical records note that 5000 or 6000 years back, clocks were already in use, and in 1577 the minute hand was an important invention of Jost Burgi to meet the demand of the astrologer Tycho Brahe for his star gazing. The invention of the of the pendulum in 1656 triggered a lot of new ideas that led to the creation of grandfather clocks. At this point, clocks became more accurate.
The Diaspora of Grandfather Clocks To Brave New Worlds
The English settlers braved the lonely stretches of prairies and fought the fierce Indians to save their lives and property. During this journey, several clocks endured bruising and hard knocks, but still managed to be displayed in crude log cabins. These clocks were sweet reminders of homes left behind.
Grandfather clocks continued to be enhanced with new machines until these evolved to the contemporary clocks we see in big clock shops offline and online. Newer designs and materials were introduced to make the big tall clocks more affordable, efficient, and stunning as always. In Europe and in other parts of the globe, these clocks became the standard must-haves for every household that valued its performance and beauty.
To date, the leading names in long clocks are Howard Miller, Ridgeway, Bulova, Seth Thomas, and Hermie. These clockmakers perfected the art of making floor clocks of various designs without compromising quality and function. This generation is indeed fortunate to have the masters around to provide the excellent timepieces fit for royalty.
The fascination for these 7-foot tall clocks still continues to this day. Once you're bitten by the bug, you'll never outgrow your passion for grandfather clocks.
