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History of the Grandfather Clock, Wall Clock and Cuckoo Clock

Grandfather Clock History.....

A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, grandfather clock or floor clock, is a freestanding, weight-driven, pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower, or waist of the case. Grandfather clocks of this style are commonly 1.8–2.4 meters (6–8 feet) tall. The case often features elaborately carved ornamentation on the hood, or bonnet, which surrounds and frames the dial, or clock face. The English clockmaker William Clement is credited with the development of this form in 1670. Most longcase grandfather clocks are striking clocks, which means they sound the time on each hour or fraction of an hour.

The terms "grandfather", "grandmother", and "granddaughter" have all been applied to longcase clocks. Although there is no specifically defined difference among these terms, the general perception seems to be that a clock smaller than 1.5 m (5 ft) is a granddaughter; over 1.5 m (5 ft) is a grandmother; and over 1.8 m (6 ft) is a grandfather clock.

Wall Clock History...

A history of clocks dates back more than 6000 years and probably started with the Egyptians with the invention of the sundial clock. This clock was also called the shadow clock or were known as obelisks. Ancient obelisks were often monolithic whereas most modern obelisks are made of individual stones, and can even have interior spaces.,br>
As time progressed large round wall clocks with brass dials emerged that may have represented some of the first wall clocks. However, producing them was painstaking, took a long time and only the wealthy could afford them. Later, Britain replaced the brass dials with painted dials, which grew in popularity over time and represent the type of dials on wall clocks today.

The wall clock essentially evolved from the long case grandfather clock. The wall clock, was basically a “cut-off” version of the long case clock for those who did not want a very tall clock. Isaac Blaisdell has been given credit for many of these ideas. In addition, another major advancement here was the pendulum wall clock developed by Christian Huygens in 1656. The energy of the pendulum wall clock provided energy to turn gears with which to keep time.

Eventually quartz movements replaced the pendulum wall clock, especially with respect to accuracy, although these types of wall clocks remain very popular today. Also, a significant use of the wall clock is the notion of using it in a decorative manner. There are literally thousands of wall clocks on the market today to match virtually any home or outdoor décor setting.

Cuckoo Clock History...

In 1629, many decades before clockmaking was established in the Black Forest,[1] an Augsburg nobleman by the name of Philipp Hainhofer (1578-1647) penned the first known description of a cuckoo clock.[2] The clock belonged to Prince Elector August von Sachsen.

In a widely known handbook on music, Musurgia Universalis (1650), the scholar Athanasius Kircher describes a mechanical organ with several automated figures, including a mechanical cuckoo. This book contains the first documented description -in words and pictures- of how a mechanical cuckoo clock works.[3] We must assume that Kircher did not invent the cuckoo clock mechanism, because this book, like his other works, is a compilation of known facts into a handbook for reference purposes. The engraving clearly shows all the elements of a mechanical cuckoo clock. The bird automatically opens its beak and moves both its wings and tail. Simultaneously, we hear the whistle - call of the cuckoo, created by two whistles of organ pipes, tuned to a minor or major third. There is only one fundamental difference from the Black Forest-type cuckoo clock mechanism: The functions of Kircher's bird are not governed by a count wheel in a strike train, but a pinned program barrel synchronizes the movements and sounds of the bird.

In 1669 Domenico Martinelli, in his handbook on elementary clocks "Horologi Elementari", suggests using the call of the cuckoo to indicate the hours.[4] Starting at that time the mechanism of the cuckoo clock was known. Any mechanic or clockmaker, who could read Latin or Italian, knew after reading the books that it was feasible to have the cuckoo announce the hours.

Subsequently, cuckoo clocks appeared in regions that had not been known for their clock making. A few decades later, people in the Black Forest started to build cuckoo clocks.

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Notes: Excerpts courtesy of Wikpedia

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