Hello all
Perhaps I should start, 'gentle reader?' No, I think that's been done LOL.
The title of this post is certainly broad, but I thought I'd just quickly post a few comments about the way people in the early 19th and late 18th century--the period I am immersing myself in right now--experienced their day and time.
Let's talk about time first. Yes, they had clocks, but they were weight driven or key wound. They weren't usually very precise. I have several key wound clocks at home and I generally adjust them a few minutes here and there about twice a week. So, fun, but not that reliable.
Personal watches were very expensive in the 18th century, and only wealthier people had them. Men might have a pocket watch, and women would wear a watch on a pin, possibly around their necks, or on a chatelaine.
(Hah, caught you: do you know what a chatelaine is? It's kind of key ring sort of thing, worn originally by the mistress of the castle in mediaeval times, and in the 17-18-19 centuries worn by the lady of the house, or in grander homes, the housekeeper. On it she would have all the keys needed for the house, including keys to the store cupboard and possibly the wine cellar unless there were a Butler in which case he would have that key. She would also carry some necessary items on this chatelaine, which affixed to her belt. These items might be a measuring tape, a magnifying glass, and a small watch on a chain.)
Wrist watches weren't invented yet. And again, watches needed to be adjusted: often people used church or town hall bells, which were generally rung each noon, to adjust their watches.
So people back then usually relied on the local church or town hall to know for sure what time it was.
The noon bell progressed to the 'noon whistle' in many communities during the late 19th and 20th century's industrialization; when I moved to my present home, the small village nearby still sounded a noon whistle. They stopped a few years ago, and I still miss it, particularly when I'm outside in the garden all morning.
So most people in the 18th century kept time by the sun and relied on the noon bell. They may have had a sundial in the garden of their home: this was fine, but if you weren't at home or in the garden, or if it were a cloudy day couldn't use the sundial. People learned to know what time it was by watching the sun during the day, and less common, the moon during the night. They followed the track of the sun as it got shallow in the winter sky, and became a larger curve in the summer sky. They followed the moon's path which is in opposition to the sun's: when the sun is high in the sky, the moon skirts the horizon. When the sun is low in its winter arc, the moon rises high in the cold winter night.
People also had things like hour glasses that were handy for timing shorter events like how long something had to cook over the fire (though a good cook would just know, from experience) or how long someone could devote to practicing pianoforte, or doing needlepoint.
All in all, given the available measures of time and their level of precision, I feel people in the 18th century were less precise than we are today. If they said they would stop by for a visit at 2 p.m., well, it could easily be ten after before they'd arrive: not because they were chronically late, or lazy, or didn't care about being on time, but because the variations in how watches, clocks, hourglasses and the sun all allowed them to perceive the 'correct' time made precision very rare.
Additionally, people in different parts of the U.S. (because it is so vast and wide) kept their local time. This sounds logical until you think about the havoc this could have created, and did create, when people traveled from one village to another. Because travel itself wasn't too speedy, distances covered weren't that huge, and if people went, say, 20 miles, the time at the place of arrival might have differed by a few minutes from the time at the place of departure. But since no one was used to being precisely 'on time' anyway, this didn't matter much.
It wasn't until the railroads came in during the mid 1800's that local times had to be accounted for. This is when the 'time zone' concept was introduced, something we adhere to still today.
In the 18th century people were less constrained by artificial time, i.e., clocks and watches, than we are now. At least I think so. They rose when it got light enough to wake them, or when the rooster crowed, or in some communities, when the church bells rang. They went to bed just an hour or so after sunset, since they had to use candles and oil lamps to light their homes and these were expensive. So their use was limited. Plus, if anyone's ever read by candle or lamp light you will know that your eyes tend to tire more quickly than they do using our brighter, more even modern lighting. So by an hour or so after sunset, everyone was ready for bed.
In the summer, people were probably tired enough to go to bed before sunset, since they'd been up since shortly after dawn, and summer days are long.
In a week from now those of us who live in North America go on 'Daylight Savings Time.' I understand this, and I understand the historical impetus that inspired it. But I don't like it.
I would much prefer to keep 'time,' which is a human construct and concept anyway, 'standard.' It's already still quite light out at 6 p.m.: why do we need to have it light until 7 p.m. in early March?
Other parts of the world, where this one hour alteration of the clock is called 'Summer Time' employ this during the--duh--SUMMER. Not at the nascent dawn of spring. Or the tail end of winter, take your pick: March is the transitional month.
So in today's artificially lit world, we often find it hard to appreciate fully 18th century writers' expressions like 'the night drawing in.' We find it picturesque, or 'romantic.' But just for fun some time, try not putting on any electric lights when dusk falls. Watch how the shadows progress, and deepen, and soon fill all the corners of whatever room you're in. The phrase 'night drawing in' makes more sense now doesn't it?
And on the flip side, if you can some morning, don't set an alarm: just wait until you are awakened by birdsong (or a rooster crow, depending on where you live). Admittedly here in the Northeastern US it'll be a couple more weeks at least before this happens, but it is one of the loveliest ways to wake up and I at least can't help starting my day smiling.
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