Those Noisy Alarm Clocks

Who wants to own an alarm clock anyway.  They are such a nuisance, “noisy“.  No matter if you have a clock radio with soft music to wake up to, who needs to be prodded to wake up, and get going when you can sleep for just a while longer.  So push that snooze button for a little while longer sleepyhead.  

However, everywhere you turn you are reminded of the passing of time, and wonder where in the world does the time go.  The clock is a symbol of busyness.  I need to tell you that an alarm clock of some kind is a special reminder if you keep appointments, organize your day, and it can even be useful for taking prescribed medicine at a prescribed time.

I admit some of them are noisy, but if you are a heavy sleeper, how else are you going to be prodded to wake up, and, of course, there are clocks that roll away out of  your reach, and then you, most certainly, have  to get up, for sure, to turn off the alarm.

Fortunately, we are not in the ancient period of time when people used sundials to measure the time by the sun.  The low cost and precision account for the great variety of types that were developed in the course of the centuries.  The sun does not always shine, so men had to invent other types of clocks.

The alarm clock began to appear during the time of the early civilization, and was owned by emperors,  kings, and clergies.  Even the great philosopher, Pluto, owned one.  It was told that his was an antique, which was a water clock with an alarm, that sounded like a water organ.

In 1942, production of clocks with alarms ceased, and, in 1944, alarm clocks were the first consumer goods to be manufactured for civilian use.  However, during that time, there was a critical shortage of these clocks.  The older clocks were wearing out or breaking, so people were late for work, and some didn’t show up at all.

There was a clockmaker who lived in Concord, New Hampshire, by the name of Lee Hutchins.  He would get up every day at 4:00 a.m. to work on his clocks.  When he overslept, he became very troubled.  He thought and thought of a clock that would have an alarm of some kind that would wake him up promptly at 4:00 a.m.  

He built a cabinet, transferred the inner mechanism of one of the large brass clocks into it, and inserted a pinion or gear.  When the minute hand of the clock reached and tripped the pinion at 4:00 a.m., the movement of the pinion set a bell in motion, and the bell made sufficient noise to awaken him.  Hutchins never bothered to patent his clock, as he was not interested in money, he was just interested in not oversleeping.

I have come to the conclusion that these clocks are great, in spite of their loud, persistent, aggravating demand that you wake up to their set time.
Yes, alarm clocks have come a long way, and are definitely special.