What is a "Grandfather Clock"?

These clocks were also known as "Tall Clocks" and "Long Case Clocks". You may also have heard similar clocks referred to as "Grand mother Clocks" or "Grand daughter Clocks". They are all varieties of the tall clock.

The primary difference is the height of each type. Grandfather clocks are typically over 6 feet tall, grand mother clocks are over 5 feet, and the grand daughter clock is under 5 feet high.

More than 100 years ago in Piercebridge, North Yorkshire, England, there was a quaint country lodge known as the George Hotel.

The George hotel was managed by two bachelor brothers named Jenkins also from England.

In the lobby stood a floor clock (as they were called back in those days) that had been there for many years. One unusual characteristic on 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 clocksmiths gave up trying to repair the ailing timepiece, it was losing more than an hour each day.

The clocks 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 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 a 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 about the clock grandfather clock song. These are the opening words of the first stanza:

"Oh my grandfather's clock was too 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 no 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 his song, over a hundred years ago, were they referred to as grandfather clocks. The grandfather clock song is below.

Grandfather Clock lyrics: 

My grandfather's clock was to large 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.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride.
But it stopped short, Never to go again,
When the old man died.

Chorus
Ninety years without slumbering
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
His life seconds numbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock
It stopped short, Never to go again
When the old man died.

In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy;
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know,
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride.
But it stopped short, Never to go again,
When the old man died.

My grandfather said, that of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found:
For it wasted no time, and had but one desire,
At the close of each week to be wound.
And it kept in its place, not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side;
But it stopped short, Never to go again,
When the old man died.

It rang an alarm in the dead of the night,
And alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we know that his spirit was pluming its flight,
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time, with a soft muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side;
But it stopped short, Never to go again,
When the old man died.

It was written in 1876 by Henry C. Work.

Humans have been keeping track of time throughout the ages using everything from hourglasses to sundials. During the second half of the 13th century, the very first mechanical clocks were developed. These early clocks were huge contraptions made with heavy iron frames and large gears, usually placed in church towers and striking the church bell on the top of each hour.

Enhancements led to an hour hand and the ability of the clocks to strike every quarter-hour. Eventually, during the first half of the 15th century, personal clocks started to appear. As time progressed, these clocks became a popular fixture in the homes of the upper classes, especially grandfather clocks.

Galileo was first credited with the discovery that a pendulum could be used to keep time. This led to Dutch scientist Christian Huygens developing the first pendulum clock, the prototype for the grandfather clock. These clocks hung on walls and were affectionately entitled "wags-on-the-wall" due to their short pendulums. In the mid-1600's, English clockmakers introduced a clock which was even closer to today's grandfather clock known as the "long case" clock, which was nearly 6 feet long with a 10-inch pendulum.

By 1670, an even longer pendulum was used, various changes were incorporated, and the first grandfather clock was produced. The advancements resulted in an increase in precision that meant the clocks held time to within a few seconds variance per week. This was the start of the popularity of grandfather clocks due to their ability to keep time so accurately.

A minute hand was added, and eventually a glass front was introduced to better display the internal workings of the pendulum, chains, and weights. These lovely timepieces were not referred to as grandfather clocks but rather were called "long case" clocks or "floor" clocks until nearly 1900. Throughout these early years, grandfather clocks were made almost exclusively for people of noble heritage. Though produced in America since the late 1600's, it was not until the 19th century that grandfather clocks became affordable for everyone.

Pendulum clock (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Mechanism

Gravity-swing pendulum

Thermal compensation

Atmospheric drag

Torsion-spring pendulum

Escapement

Time Indication