Today it is difficult for us to realize just how important the ever-changing phases of the moon were in the past. In the late 17th century, the moon dial was added to most long case clocks so people could plan ahead when the moon was full and travel at night was not so hazardous. Clock masters endeavored to simulate the appearance of the moon in the sky on the face of clocks.

The arched dial was first used in clocks in the beginning of the 18th century and presented a real challenge to the makers of time clocks. In approximately 1720, moving figures began to appear in this space, figures which moved back and forth with the swing of the pendulum. They used prancing deer, rocking ships, and Father Time with his scythe. At the time there was no practical value of this feature on the clock; it was simply a pleasing way of showing motion and life.

After motion had been added in the arch above the dial, the next step was to reproduce the progress of the moon from phase to phase. The proverbial “Man in the Moon” was used on most dials with a landscape and / or seascape on the other half of the circle – symbols of sea – the rocking ship, and of land – the deer.

In our very modern world today, the moving moon section of the dial is more decorative than useful but it is still a very sought after feature when purchasing a floor clock. While the moon itself has remained a vital part of the dial, we now see other things of our time depicted.

Many beliefs concerning the moon and its effects have been recorded. We have listed just a few of them for you:
Sweep the house in the dark of the moon and you will have neither moths nor spiders.
Trees planted at Full Moon will bear fruit.
Plant peas and potatoes in the increase of the moon.
The meat of animals slaughtered in the increase of the moon will not shrink in the cooking
The number of snows during winter is indicated by the number of days from the first snow in fall to the following full moon.
Shingle the roof in the decrease of the moon (between Full Moon and the next New Moon) so the shingles are put on when the horns of the moon are turned down and they will warp and rise up. The same holds true for boardwalks.

Westminster Chimes
The Westminster chimes are the same notes first used on the clock in the University Church tower of St. Mary, Cambridge, England, and in 1859, selected for the Victoria Clock Tower in the House of Parliament in London. There, the hour is still struck on the famous old bell, ” Big Ben”, after the four famous phrases have been played on the smaller bells. The music was inspired by a phrase from Handel’s symphony,” I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”, and the words and music were arranged by Wm. Crotch in 1793.

Lord through this hour,
Be Thou our guide
So, by Thy power
No foot shall slide.

Whittington Chimes
The legendary Whittington Chimes rang in the Church of St. Mary Le Bow in Cheapside, London in the 16th Century. One day, the penniless boy, Dick Whittington heard them as he ran away to escape his drudgery as an ill-treated house boy. The chimes seemed to say to him “Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London Town!” So, back he went and persisted in his labors until he finally did become Lord Mayor of London.

St. Michael Chimes
A true story of adventure surrounds St. Michael’s Chimes. The bells, cast in London, were installed in the St. Michael Church steeple in Charleston, S.C. in 1764. During the Revolutionary War, the British took the bells back to England. After the war, a Charleston merchant bought them and sent them back to America. In 1823, when cracks were discovered in them , they were sent back to London to be recast.

In 1862, during the Charleston siege, they were moved to Columbia, S.C. for safe keeping, but Sherman’s army set fire to the area, and nothing but fragments of the bells remained. These were sent back to London once more, where the original molds still stood, and again, recast. In February 1867, the eight bells were reinstated in the St. Michael steeple, and on March 21st they rang out joyously, seeming to say: “Home again, home again, from a foreign land!” There was a great rejoicing by the entire city as the bells rang out. Since then, they have endured a cyclone, earthquake and fire unharmed.

Ave Maria Chimes
In the early 1500’s. King James V banished the Douglas Clan to Scotland where Ellen Douglas lived in hiding. He did so because Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus had imprisoned the child king during the early days of his rein. In 1825 Franz Peter Schubert wrote Ellen’s Song, which was a prayer for the safety for herself and her father as they hid in the forest. There are several versions of the Ave Maria song written by Charles Gounod, J. Stone, Franz Liszt, Biebel, and Schubert with the most popular being those of Liszt and Schubert.

In the lobby stood a floor clock, as they were called in those days, that had been there for many years. One unusual characteristic of the old clock was that it kept very good time. This was uncommon, since in those days clocks were generally not noted for their accuracy.

One day, one of the brothers died and suddenly the old clock started losing time. At first it lost 15 minutes per day but when several clock smiths gave up trying to repair the ailing timepiece, it was losing more than an hour each day.

The clock’s incurable problem became as talked about as its precision had been. Some said it was no surprise that, though fully wound, the old clock stopped when the surviving Jenkins brother died at the age of ninety.

The new manager of the hotel never attempted to have it repaired. He just left it standing in the sunlit corner of the lobby, its hands resting in the position they assumed the moment the last Jenkins brother died.

About 1875, an American songwriter named Henry Work happened to be staying at the George Hotel during a trip to England. He was told the story of the old clock and after seeing the clock for himself, decided to compose a song about the fascinating coincidence that the clock stopped forever the moment its elder owner passed away. Henry came back to America and published the lyrics that sold over a million copies of sheet music. These are the opening words of the first stanza:

“Oh my grandfather’s clock was to tall for the shelf so it stood ninety years on the floor.
It was taller by half than the old man himself, though it weighed not a pennyweight more….”

Until that time, clocks such as the one in the old George Hotel were referred to by a variety of names, but not before Henry Work wrote this song, over a hundred years ago. Then after they were they referred to as grandfather clocks .

One day the old clock maker was on his way home from the village and found a little cuckoo bird on the ground not far from his little cottage. It had been thrown out of the nest and fluttered to the ground since it had not yet learned how to fly by itself. The old man took pity on the poor little frightened bird. He was afraid that a cat might get the helpless little bird, so he picked it up and took it home with him. It did not take the cuckoo long to realize that the old clock-maker was his friend. Soon he gained strength and learned to fly. The bird liked it in the old clock-shop and would fly around the room and sit on the different clocks happily singing his cuckoo song. Sometimes when the window was open he flew into the forest but he always returned at the end of the day.

Then one day things began to happen in the forest. The king and all his men had come to hunt the big stag that lived in the Black Forest. The village was buzzing because the king had brought along his young daughter, the princess. She was a beautiful child but was very frail and unhappy. The king thought that the excitement of the hunt and the ride in the Black Forest would bring color to her cheeks and a smile to her lips.

The old man was working hard in his shop among the friendly tick-tock of his clocks. From far away he heard the sound of the hunter’s horn. The little cuckoo must have heard it too and was greatly disturbed. He flew back from the open window and hid among the clocks for he was not accustomed to all this commotion and the strange people wandering about.

When the king came to the cottage, he remembered that this was the home of the old clock-maker and he decided to show the princess how clocks were made. He was very disappointed because the princess had remained sad and disinterested despite all the merriment of the hunt. The clock-maker was very frightened when the king and the princess and all the king’s men in their fancy dress entered his humble shop but he did his best to show the princess his clocks with their beautifully painted faces, their carved cases and their busy “tick-tock”. The little princess still did not seem interested. Then the little cuckoo peeked out from his hiding place and felt sorry for the princess. He flew to the top of the prettiest of all clocks and began to sing “cuckoo, cuckoo” in his loudest voice. When the princess heard and saw this, she clapped her hands in glee and broke out in merry laughter.

The king and all his men were pleased to see the change in the princess and decided that she should have the clock and the little bird. Just as the king called for his money, the bird became frightened and flew out the window into the forest. The king was very disappointed that he could not give his daughter the present that gave her so much joy and the princess became very sad again and began to cry. This scene touched the old clock-maker’s heart. He thought hard and finally took her hand and promised to make her a Black Forest cuckoo clock and have it ready for Christmas if she would only laugh and smile again.

The king was very pleased and promised the old man much gold and high honor at his court.

After the hunters had left, the old man thought over what he had promised and became worried. How could he possibly keep his promise to deliver a clock and a cuckoo? Who would take care of the little bird? Would the little bird continue to sing in the big palace away from his home in the forest? He thought and thought and finally the idea came to him that instead of a real live bird he would carve one out of wood and make it sing like a real cuckoo.

He worked day and night and finally when the first snow of the winter again covered the ground like a blanket of white, his masterpiece was finished. He had placed the wooden cuckoo inside the clock case and made it come out of a little door every hour and half hour to call out the time with its friendly song. He had decorated the case with the leaves and branches of the forest to make the little bird feel at home.

He carefully wrapped the clock and hurried to the far away palace of the king. What joy the princess had when the old clock-maker gave her the clock with the cuckoo bird. She stood on her tip-toe to watch the little bird come out of the door and was happy all day long.

The king was so pleased that he gave the clock-maker much gold and wanted him to stay at the palace. The old man shook his head and said that he would rather go home to his shop in the Black Forest. The king had many visitors and the princess would always show them her Black Forest cuckoo clock. Thus it came about that many people wanted cuckoo clocks just as the princess and the old man of the forest was kept busy making many, many more.

After World War II, the anniversary clock became one of the first clocks to go back into production. It became very easy to purchase at the Post Exchange and thousands of returning GIs brought back as a souvenir. In 1953 there were about 13 manufacturers of the anniversary clock who made approximately 125 different styles, each one having a different suspension system. By 1965 the number of manufacturers had dropped to about 5. Repair parts became difficult to find and the very long, delicate suspension spring could break quite easily. As a result, the battery operated Anniversary Clock came into existence. More recent developments include the addition of sound and crystal balls.

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