[fhs-65] Re: Spring forward

From: "dpolhill" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("dpolhill")
To: sfgrob@xxxxxxxxxxx, FHS-65@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2022 19:20:30 +0000 (UTC)

i'm not ready and i oppose changing
DP
In a message dated 3/12/2022 12:01:31 PM Mountain Standard Time,
sfgrob@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

Well, it's that dreaded time of year again where we have to go through this
stupid ritual of moving the clocks ahead 1 hour.  Personally, I really hate
this.

There is a movement on congress to dump yearly time changes, but this will go
nowhere as there just is no consensus as to which way to go.  Surveys indicate
that 31% of Americans wanted to keep switching the clocks back and forth every
year, 36% who wanted Daylight Saving Time all year around, and 30% who wanted
Standard Time all year around.  With the country divided by so many other
things, this time change thing will be sure to stay on the shelf.

With this impending task looming, I thought I would take count of all the
clocks and watches in our home.  I'm rather fond of clocks so I knew there
would be quite a few.  I counted 26 time pieces, and probably one or two were
missed.  Fortunately, only about half of that count are in active use and will
require adjustment.

Here are a few of the oldest/interesting (to me anyway) time pieces.
Above mantel is probability the oldest, and most difficult clock to date, but
most likely was made in the 1850s to 1880s.  There is no brand or serial number
on the clockworks, but there is a label on the back of the clock identifying
the clock as a "Belmont".  This clock was mass produced and inexpensive.  Tons
of these were made and sold as "house" brands for large department stores.  The
clock is still running today and keeps reasonably good time.  I just have to
adjust it a minute or two when I wind it each week.  Story is this clock was a
wedding present to the parents of my grandmother's oldest sister's husband.
Above is a collection of pocket watches.  Top left is an Elgin "Sidewinder"
made in 1880.  On the top right is Hampden  "Sidewinder" made in 1903.  The
interesting thing about the sidewinders is the fact that the stem for winding
is at the three o'clock position and the hands are set by unscrewing the bezel
that holds the crystal to expose a small lever at the five o'clock position.
Pulling out this small lever engages the stem into the hand setting mode. I
always thought these top two were my grandfathers watches, but found out after
a little research that my grandfathers were mere toddlers when these pocket
watches were produced.  So unless they acquired them used, which seems
unlikely, ownership goes back even further on the family tree.  The 1880 Elgin
keeps remarkably good time for something 142 years old. The Hamilton on the
bottom was my father's pocket watch from 1946.  Still keeps great time but
needs a good cleaning.    The above clock is a Waltham 8 day clock made in
1916.  Again, this was a very popular clock.  It was categorized as a
"transportation" clock as it was rugged and used in cars and aircraft of the
time.  This same model of clock was in the airplane that Lindbergh famously
used to cross the Atlantic.  Tons of these clocks were produced over several
decades so they are not rare.  Except this one.  It considered quite rare as it
was manufactured specifically for the U.S.Army Aviation Section Signal Corps
(see the A.S.S.C. on face).  One unique aspect of this clock is that has two
mainsprings allowing to run for 8 days with increased accuracy. But the back
story is interesting too.  My great uncle was a "rigger" in the Army Signal
Core during WWI.  The Signal Core is where aviation got its start in the
military.  His outfit trained new pilots on the Curtiss JN "Jenny" that was a
fabric covered tail dragging bi-plane.  One day, one of these Jennys went down
and crashed beyond repair, and my uncle salvaged this very same clock from that
downed JN trainer. Winding down,Steve

References:
- [fhs-65] Spring forward
  - From: Steve

[fhs-65] Re: Spring forward

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