Why are there so few public CLOCKS in the US?
By Denmarkguy
@Denmarkguy (1845)
United States
April 19, 2007 11:16pm CST
I was born and raised in Denmark, and I lived in several European countries before I was 18. Eventually, I came to the US at age 20 to go to university.
There's something interesting I have noticed, in the 25-odd years I have lived here. Public clocks are quite rare in the US.
I notice when I go back to Denmark that it is very easy to tell the time, when you are walking around in the city. There are usually clocks on the sides of buildings, in grocery stores, in banks, in hotels, and many public buildings.
When I walk around cities in the US, I find it much harder to tell time (I don't usually wear a watch)-- often I have to find a place with a TV on CNN, so I can read the time there. Even at airports-- where time is VERY important, there are rarely clocks on the walls... usually, you have to find a bank of displays showing flights coming and going, and search for the current time on there. Or, once again, a TV turned to the news.
I got myself wondering why this difference exists. After all, people in the US are VERY "time oriented." Yet, time is rarelt provided as a "public service." Why is that? Have you even noticed it? If you live outside the US, are there usually clocks in a number of readily visible public places?
8 people like this
15 responses
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
20 Apr 07
I have never been outside of the U.S. But I see your point. If I were to go to your country, I would probably be wondering the opposite. Why are there so many clocks? :) But it also probably would not bother me because I have so many clocks through out my house.
I hate being late so always knowing what time it is, is very important to me. :)
But you are very right with your observations.
If one wants to know what time it is when walking around, better hope there is a bank display to tell you.
However, I live in an area that has many clocks.
There are many banks very close together.
Then there is a welcome sign to our city that has a clock like the bank that also tells the temp.
And there is a gas station that is also combined with a McDonald's that has an analog clock on the outside of the building.
But I have also lived in numerous places in the U.S. And this many clocks in one area is not the norm for many cities.
I don't know why we don't have more public clocks.
I guess because now people rely on watches and or cell phones to tell time.
Heck, cell phones have become everything to come people!
4 people like this
@klystron635 (1519)
• Philippines
20 Apr 07
I haven't been in the United States so I wouldn't be able to comment on the clocks in the country. However I can compare my country on Denmark, in terms of clock count. Like, Denmark it is not so hard to tell time because there are lots of public clocks displayed in our country. But the problem with our clocks is that they have their own time. Some of them only follow the standard time and most are not. Some clocks are correct in time while some will be 5 minutes advance or delayed. So that's really a problem with our clock. There's a delay. There's shouldn't be a delay because our country is not that big to experience time zone. Hopefully the public clocks will be syncronized. I don't also wear watch like you do.
3 people like this
@texasclassygal (5305)
• United States
20 Apr 07
I have noticed that also, when I lived in Philadelphia and used to walk to work everyday and the nice thing about it was there was a clock on the top of a tower that would chime every hour and could be seen from most places in downtown. I lived and breathed by this clock, I would hear it chime when I was walking and knowing that it meant that I was late I would start walking faster so that I would not be late for work. This is the only place I have ever lived with I was blessed with such a convenience, most times in most big cities there are no clocks at all.
2 people like this
@Jennifer21 (2476)
• United States
20 Apr 07
I usually see clocks everywhere on bank clocks and such. Bank clocks usually have the time as well as the temperature at the time. I see them everywhere. Around my area they are also on high school and electric company signs as well. It is very easy for me to find the time. Even in the stores such as Wal-Mart, they have clocks. I guess every place in the US varies in their differences though.
2 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
20 Apr 07
Practically everyone would have a watch or mobile phone that tells time. This is an interesting question you brought up. I concentrated quite hard and tried... but I can't recall any clocks in the public areas of Singapore too!!
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
20 Apr 07
some areas of new england have public clocks.
the ones in my town though have run down and broken,they just don't keep up on them anymore.
with all the people who have cell phones with built in clocks now,chances are they'll get even more scarce.
3 people like this
@wolflvr (335)
• United States
20 Apr 07
I have never noticed how many clocks are in my area. I live in the U.S. and pretty much know where the public clocks are in or around my city. Walking around outside there are very few clocks. I rely alot on my cellphone or the clock in my car. The only clock in my house is the one on my cable boxes. I like the ones on my cellphone and cable boxes becuase they set themselves so I know they are right. Also where I live a lot of people ask other people if they know what time it is.
1 person likes this
@tusizi144 (33)
• China
21 Apr 07
I have lived my entire life of 19 years in China so I have no idea of what things are like in US or any other places. Actually the queation concerning public clock never occured to me until I saw this. As far as I can remember, there are lot of public clocks where I live and where I have visited. However, those clocks are not paid attention to. They are placed more for a decrative purpose than for telling people the exact time. In some places there may be a really huge clock on the wall of building which, ironicly, doesn't work.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
27 Apr 07
Very interesting observation. A flippant response would be that in America the watch maker lobby would oppose public clocks on the basis that they would cut into their business. American watchmakers would ensure that if they could, they would put a Copyright on the display of time, and sell such devices for personal use only! lol.
However, there are two kinds of countries I have been to:
1. Countries with public clocks and;
2. Countries with very few public clocks
UK, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, India, Thailand, Japan, Egypt, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia are among the former.
USA, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela, the Arab countries seem to be clockless.
It would seem to be based on a sense of publicspiritedness.
Personally I do not wear a watch and before cellular phones, I had perfected the art of glancing at people's wrists and reading the time backwards!
Cheers!
@theproperator (2429)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I guess it must be because we americans are so "time oriented" that it is assumed that most everyone carries a watch (or cellphone, nowadays)to keep track of time, so public clocks are not needed. I never really thought about it until you brought it up though. The only public clocks I can think of are the ones outside of banks that also give the date and temperature (and I'm not sure why it such a tradition that banks have those, really). In older towns, the town hall will often have a clock, but these don't always work anymore. Usually, you will see one in a store at the customer service counter,but I think that is more for the employees than the customers, because the store would rather you "lose track" of time and stay to buy more stuff.
1 person likes this
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
20 Apr 07
You know, until I read this discussion I never really thought about it. Thinking in my mind though I can't picture clocks in stores, resturants and such. In our area, Michigan USA, a lot of the banks have the signs out front with the time and temperture on them but I usually look just for the temp because I have a clock in my Van and on my cell phone that I probably use more for the clock than the phone.
I'm trying to think now where I remember we used to have 'clock towers' usually in the center of town. Going to have to go on a photo trip searching for some of the old clocks now. They were neat, usually fancy carvings and big so you could see them from a good share of the main street.
1 person likes this
@maribea (2366)
• Italy
20 Apr 07
oh I am still laughing because you made me think of my mother...she is very concerned in time and she likes having many clocks in her house, namely a clock in each room because she wants to know the exact time whenever she need it...and she feels so uncomfortable when coming and visiting me because I hardly have one clock in my home!!!! I have never paid much attention to clocks, I mean public clocks in my time...now that I am writing I can tell you that here in Rome I can picture clocks at the stations or at chemists'...I am thinking about while writing and..well sometimes there are clocks on antique palaces in the centre of the town..well I cannot remember anything else..maybe they used to have more public clocks in ancient times because personal clocks were not so common....but you are right...it can be necessary sometimes finding the proper time in public areas...
2 people like this
@nihad_aslani (59)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I was born in Skopje, Macedonia. I moved to the US when I was 6 years old. So, I don't really remember much about the clocks. I do know that there is rarely a clock in the US. Not in restaurants or stores or malls. I guess they don't want you to know what time it is so you will wait longer or stay longer and possibly buy more. I think since people in the US are time oriented that's why they don't have clocks. Like I said before they want them to wait longer on a table at a restaurant or stay a few extra minutes at the store so they can find something else they really don't need to buy. People around here are greedy when it comes to money and making more of it.
@Tyler7777777 (169)
• United States
21 Apr 07
funny, I never noticed this before but it's true. My guess would be because everyone just uses their cellphone. It's just a waste of money to put clocks up everywhere when you can just look in your pocket and see a time that you trust more anyways.
1 person likes this
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
21 Apr 07
Huh, I never noticed a lack of clocks in public places. It seems like they're everywhere, on banks, inside public buildings, etc. But, I haven't been to Denmark, so I really can't compare. It may be that most people here wear a watch. Or, as in my case, they carry an electronic device that tells them the time. But, I do notice that there aren't that many clocks in a public square or park in my area like I see in some areas.
Another thing on a side note, I am always astonished at how many children, some pretty old, who can't read an analog clock.
