Antique Alarm Clocks

The oldest alarm clock ever is the sun, but antiques dealers and clock historians keep saying that the sun “doesn’t count”.  Apparently this is because you can’t put the sun under any kind of value guide.  But alarm clocks have existed long before the idea of buying and selling antiques.  Here is a look at just three of these very different antique alarm clocks.

The Great Exhibition Of 1851

Charles Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution, was also a keen observer of his times.  In 1851, he took his children to Hyde Park to the Crystal Palace, also known as The Great Exhibition.  All kinds of new and unusual devices were on display, one of which (had it survived) would be known as the most dangerous antique alarm clock in the world today.

In this antique alarm clock, the sleeper’s was made on springs and levers.  When it came time for the sleeper to come out of the Land of Nod, the bed would shoot up, propelling the sleeper into a tub of cold water.  Unbelievably, this kind of antique alarm clock never caught on.  In fact, it’s usually not listed in historical papers on the Great Exhibition.  This antique alarm clock is, however, lovingly detailed in Charles Darwin’s personal diaries.

The Nuremberg Wall Clock

A much more conventional and dry antique wall clock is thought to have been made in the 1400’s in Nuremberg, Germany.  It was made of iron and had bronze bells and worked as a smaller version of the huge town clocks all around European cities since the 1100’s.  It was a mere nineteen inches tall.  Its existence is doubtful, especially after the World Wars Germany went through.  We know of this antique wall clock through old writings.

Salisbury Cathedral

The oldest known antique alarm clock still ticking away today can be seen in Salisbury Cathedral in England near Stonehenge, once thought to be a kind of antique alarm clock but now thought to be a place of ancestor worship.  Known as “the Medieval Clock”, this antique alarm clock was thought to be made around 1386. 

Alarm clocks were rather large in the fourteenth century – usually only a clock tower or a cathedral could hold one. he big advantage was that the whole town could use one.  Also, you didn’t have to worry about antique alarm clock thieves.  Or, worry about sober thieves, anyway.  If anyone tried to steal this antique alarm clock, they wouldn’t be able to get very far without someone pretending not to notice.

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