Stephen Hawkins wrote an interesting book titled “A Brief History of Time”. So as not to be confusing, this newsletter will be called “ A Brief History of Time Keeping. And then, because so much of the history of time keeping is visibly on display at the Southwest Museum of Clocks and Watches, located in Lockhart, the newsletter will end by providing a brief tour of the museum.[1]
Before we get to the Museum, it is
interesting to know more about the history of keeping track of time.
Various devices have been used to
measure and keep track of time. The
current system of dividing up the day into twenty-four segments dates to the
Sumerians about 4000 years ago.
During this era, the middle eastern
people used large obelisks to track the
movement of the sun along with other devices to measure time. Most of these were the water outflow type,
along the same principle as the sand flowing through an hourglass. The use of the obelisk was the idea that
generated the sundial, the nifty garden decoration with the brass plate and the
slanted gnomon. The gnomon is a Latin
word that means the pointer of a sundial.
Beware of sundials with gnomons at an odd angle, as sundials are only
reasonably accurate when the gnomon is aligned with the Earth’s axis.
None of these ancient devices for
keeping track of time were called clocks----that word came with the development
of the mechanical clock, and one that could ring a bell. In Medieval times, the word used was clocca
which is translated into the English word of clock. There are other spellings depending on the
language, but they all are phonetically similar. Examples would be clokke,
clocke, cloque, etc. Another word that
comes into our vocabulary is horology, stemming from the Latin word horologium[dt1] . We will run into that word a bit later.
One invention that made mechanical
clocks possible was the escapement wheel mechanism. The whole idea of the escapement
made possible a clock that could display time on its face, by regulating the
rotation of a shaft fitted with gears.
Escapements are a study unto themselves.
The principle of the escapement is shown by this schematic display:
Figure 30.1 basic escapement mechanism
The
gray pendulum swings back and forth alternately releasing a gear tooth on one
side and engaging a tooth on the other side.
Thus, with the swing of the pendulum, the shaft (black dot in the center
of the toothed wheel) could be turned at regulated speed. The tic toc of old
clocks is the escapement mechanism in operation. Yet needed was a way to adjust the rate of
this tic toc operation. This was
accomplished by use of a balance wheel and spring, or with the center of mass
of a pendulum. Either of these gave the
first mechanical clocks their ability to be calibrated accurately with a
measured beat. Then, there is the need
for power to make all this run. Waterpower was used early, but metal springs
able to be “wound up” and weights on chains are what made the early clocks
suitable for use in homes and buildings possible in the 1600s.
Ever
striving for accuracy, the pendulum clock was the most accurate up until the
1930s when quartz crystal oscillators were invented. But then, with the atomic
age came the atomic clock based on the oscillating frequency of the Cesium atom
referenced to zero degrees Kelvin. The
atomic clock is an extremely accurate time standard, providing clock time
around the whole world. The Cesium clock
in Colorado provides an output that can be seen at https://time.gov/. Today, this time is called Coordinated
Universal Time across the entire world.
Accurate
time is so commonplace now that few of us think about how precise time plays a
role in our lives. All nations are tuned
into the atomic based clock now, but a few hundred years ago, coordinating time
between places on the globe was a big challenge, especially when accurate time
was needed to determine positions on the sea with a sextant. There was a time not many decades ago that it
was not only difficult to keep accurate time on land, but
also
have the device transportable for use at
sea. The only portable clocks way back
then were more than a few cubic feet in size and very vulnerable to weather
conditions. Navigation at sea or on land
was highly dependent on the accuracy of the clock. Mapping, GPS location, transportation
control, even the theory of relativity depends on accurate time.
Europe
has an interesting history of clocks in public settings, all using old methods
of keeping time and all having interesting features beyond telling the time of
day.
We took
the following picture when we were in Rouen, France in 1981.
Figure
30.2 The Gros Horloge
The
Gros Horloge is an astronomical clock with mechanisms and dials for indicating
various astronomical phenomena such as phases of the moon and movement of the
planets. The mechanism is one of the
oldest in France having been begun by Jourdain del Leche and completed by Jean
de Felain in 1389 who became the first governor of the clock. It is installed in a Renaissance arch
crossing the Rue Gros-Horloge and in 1527 was moved from its original
installation in the belfry to its present position so the citizens of Rouen
could better see their most popular monument.
Remembering
the beauty and great age of the clock, another question remained to be
answered. Edge was asked, “What is the
oldest astronomical clock in the world?”
Built in 1410 the Prague Clock has been keeping time for over 610
years. The Gros Horloge appears to be
older, but a little more digging uncovered the fact that even though it is in
excellent condition, it has been powered by electricity since the 1920s., whereas
the Prague clock is still keeping time with its original weights, gears, and
teeth. It is also composed of more
moving parts, including statues.
Mounted on the south
side of the Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square of the city of Prague the
following features can be noted: the
Astronomical Dial that focuses on and records the universe of the Earth and Sun,
the Zodiacal Ring that constantly moves the signs of the zodiac. The third and fourth features bring into play
moving sculptures. The third feature is
a portrayal of life and death and the sins that are to be avoided. When the
skeleton rings a bell three figures shake their heads; they are not ready to
die.
Figure 30.5 The Usury and Lust
Vanity tries to
impress Death with his beauty, the Usury tries to buy him off with a sack of
gold and Lust tries to entertain him.
When they rotate offstage, the twelve apostles begin to move in front of
two windows at the top of the structure and when the rooster appears, the show
is over until the next time. A marvelous
piece of engineering for the times.
All of this and more
is featured in the Museum of Clocks and Watches, located in
Lockhart,
Texas on the Square facing the historic Caldwell County Courthouse. Built in 1894 in the popular Second Empire
style of “Muldoon Blue” sandstone from Fayette, County, the courthouse’s
mansard roofs and high central clock tower dominate the Square in French
traditional grandeur.
And because of this
special refurbished courthouse and its clock tower it began to have a special
appeal to one man in particular, Mr. Gene Galbraith. . Gene
was a music teacher and chorale director until he retired in 1991. Always interested in watches and clocks, he
apprenticed with McGuire’s Clocks in Austin for five years then went to work at
Old Timer Clocks in Austin. He became an
expert well known and respected horologist and was Vice-President of
Southwestern Chapter of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
when the idea of a museum came to him.
One night (all brilliant thinking comes at night) he envisioned a museum
to be a repository for clocks and watches that would preserve history and
provide a learning opportunity for young people. The museum was formed in 2007 and after much
organization, recruiting members, and finding donors, took up its first
residence in September of that year in the Brock Building. Built just 4 years after the courthouse in
1898, its corner entrance proclaimed it the original home of the Lockhart
National Bank.
The museum is ranked high
among clock and watch museums of the entire USA. It has been featured in many
publications and is well known throughout the community of clocks and watches experts.
Because the museum
proved to be so popular and received so many excellent donations and loans of
clocks and watches, it wasn’t too long before larger accommodations were
needed. Just down the street at 109 the
old JC Penney building became available.
This beautiful old
building with its newly added interior galleries has the space to highlight the
clocks of England, Germany, France, and America.
Just to the left of
the entrance is the lovely little museum shop full of interesting donated watch
and clock items for sale.
Figure
30.11 Inside of two of the many galleries
One of the highlights
of the museum, The Great Clock Organ stands 9’2” tall and was hand crafted of
flame and burl mahogany in 1850’s Empire style. The organ has 72 wooden flute pipes and a weight-driven bellows supplies air to lambskin valves. The sliding wood cylinder has a choice of 10
different refrains that play as it rotates independently from the clock. The statues you can see behind the glass,
move when the music plays and this amazing
piece of furniture also includes a desk
with drawers for supplies.
Gene operates the
museum with his associates, but those dedicated people do more than docent work
in the museum. One cornerstone effort is
the restoration of the classic clocks of the county courthouses. Gene is the go-to man for this restoration
work---but it takes money to restore these old clocks to a condition where they
will run for a long time. Counties
where clocks are needing repair first
have to appropriate the funds and then Gene’s team goes to work
These clocks are the ones that are located high in the
tower at many courthouses---many of which stopped operating because of lack of
maintenance, but the interest in these magnificent clocks, as the classic
county courthouses are being restored, has placed a call on Gene to get them back
into running order. Most of these clocks that have stopped keeping time have
failed due to lack of maintenance and harsh conditions in the tower.
The classic
courthouse clock has a face on four sides, so the clock not only needs to keep
accurate time, but must operate
mechanisms to activate the minute and hourly hands, plus strike a bell on the
hour---and manage the hands on all four sides of the clock tower.
At last count, Texas has some 50
county courthouses with tower clocks.
When we lived in Bandera County for a time we were impressed with the
rehabilitation of the outside of its courthouse, but we were disappointed in
the tower clock because it never showed the correct time. Only recently did we learn that the hour and
minute hands (that show 4:08) are painted on the clock faces. The person who did the painting of the clock
faces must have been an expert in trompe l’oeil because they look extremely realistic.
The Cooke County Commissioners
in Gainesville, Texas .asked the museum to assess the condition of their
Courthouse Clock as part of the courthouse’s restoration project. It was found to be in poor condition and needed a complete
restoration. Late in 2010 the museum’s
proposal was approved by the Texas Historical Commission. The giant clock was
installed in pieces in the early 1900s by hoisting the components up to the
clock tower. Now to repair it, Gene and
his crew had to disassemble the clock and use a block and tackle to lower each
of the components down seven stories-- a two-day job. After many hours of
rebuilding and refurbishing this old clock, it was now in a restored condition
and put on display in the museum until it was ready to be re-installed in the
tower in time for the November 2012 rededication and 100- year anniversary of
the courthouse.
Figure 30.13 Gene working on the Cooke County clock
In this photo of Gene
at work with the E. Howard Clock in the tower at Gainesville in Cooke County, follow
with your eye the vertical shaft which is turned by the clock mechanism. This vertical shaft runs a set of gears which
transforms the rotation of the vertical shaft into the rotation of four horizontal
shafts, one for each of the four sides of the clock face.
The clock is keeping perfect time
today as it reigns supreme over the restored Beaux Arts-style courthouse with
some Prairie features of Louis Sullivan seen in the ornamental plaster and
stained glass. Another historical Texas
monument saved for the future by the citizens of Texas.
_____________Sightings______________
No quail, and not much new to report
except we did spot some colorful creatures (homo sapiens) floating on
the Guadalupe River at Horseshoe Bend in Canyon the other day.
[1]
Open on Saturdays 10 AM-4PM or by appointment by calling (512) 658-3853. Admission is free, and donations are gladly
accepted.
