I have decided to write this week’s post on the alarm clock I wrote about last week. I must say, it will probably be easier for me to write about a new object since I had already gone in depth about the clock in my last post. However, I have decided to take on the challenge of doing a bit of research about alarm clocks, their origins and how they have come to change to what we know them as today. I have decided to do this research because time has become such an important part of our studies in this class. We have read and spoken about how the objects in our lives are further meaningful because of how long we have had them. Also, we have spoken about how objects have adopted different uses over time or even lost function because of time; yet, we hold on to them and cherish them.
Alarm clocks are strange little (or big) objects that a quite odd if you take a minute to think about it. We have created a device that can be programmed to wake us up at any time of the day/night all based on our construct of time. Time alone is such a phenomenal invention but because its concept is so ingrained in our society we do not think of it as a construct but as a reality. Instead of making time beneficial to us we have come to structure our societies around time and subsequently have become its slave. We get scolded when we are late to places and get praised when we are early. Our timeliness to places is now determined and based on not our circadian rhythm but on these little devices we call alarm clocks. I fully recognize that I am writing about time mannerisms in a very Westernized cultural view.
Apparently, the first alarm clock was created by an American who needed it to wake up early for work. The first patented alarm clock was created in the 19th century. It is interesting to think of the first alarm clock as being invented so late in human history but then it only makes sense because around the late 18th century there was a shift in the way we lived. We had the industrial revolutions in Europe and then in North America, but we also cannot forget European imperialism into Africa and Asia. All of these surely impacted the way we structured our lives because now people needed to be at places on time, to be put very simply. It also makes wonder what people had to do before alarm clocks became popular. Of course, we can guess that people depended on their circadian rhythm to wake up on time.
I honestly do not where I am going with this post but I do not want to give up yet. Perhaps, what I am trying to write about will make more sense in person. Perhaps, I will have something better to say based on next week’s assignment. Either ways, my alarm clock does not have much history because it is such a practical device.
–I would love to hear what all of you think about the little I have written about.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
I love that you researched the history of alarm clocks as a whole, and not just the specific make or model that you have! I did the same thing with my camera. The history stemmed back to the 1920s!! It’s so interesting to see that alarm clocks originated in the 19th century, as they always seem so modern. We even have alarms on our phones now, so many people don’t find a practical use for actual alarm clocks anymore!
An object that I am so familiar with just became so entirely unfamiliar when put in a historical context. It’s fascinating to think about the life of this object, but I am curious to see how alarm clocks evolve over time– A large box of gears that has gotten progressively smaller and smaller and exist now for many people within their phones. I would like to learn more about science of sound in relation to alarm clocks and furthermore why modern day alarm clock manufacturers still use the same aggressive horn sound as a sound to wake us up.
i always appreciate your conditions of practicality. I also enjoy your wit and sense of estrangement from the object, it’s refreshingly honest. If there were a way to even dig into how we’ve evolved to using digital timepieces rather than analog (in conjunction with Steven’s appreciation for numberless watch adventure), I would find it just as interesting. The beginnings of time keeping and necessity for it are certainly interesting in and of itself.
I love that you spoke about how time is a construct. I think about this all the time. But I never thought about it quite like you did. Thinking about how we created time to benefit us, it it often seems like a power that control us is such a keen observation! I also really appreciated that you noted you are discussing time from a Western perspective. I wonder now, how other places around the world view time. I also admire that you did not give up on your object, and you traced its historical importance. You didn’t take the easy way out, and I loved reading what you came up with.
I think you’re definitely on to something here! There’s certainly something to be said for the way that we navigate our dual existence in the natural and the man-made world. It seems like a lot of the time, these two are in direct conflict with each other (constructed work-week schedule vs. circadian rhythm our bodies are made to follow) and the way that we try to mediate that conflict is always really interesting to me. I think if you wanted to follow this line of thought, the way we use the objects around us to go between the different worlds would be an interesting way in.