โGrandfather clockโ is a fitting name for an object thatโs often treated as a family heirloom. But even though it carries the ring of heritage and tradition, the term itself is rather young. In fact, itโs more than two centuries newer than the timepiece it designates.
When these vertically gifted clocks were first invented more than 350 years ago, people actually called them โlongcase clocks,โ a moniker thatโs still used in some circles (even though itโs less catchy). So how did the term grandfather clock come about? Before we tackle that question, letโs consider the historical context.
Clock-making as a discipline took a huge spring forward in the 17th century. Drawing upon Galileo Galileiโs research, the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens built the very first pendulum-driven clock at some point around the year 1657. By far, it was the most accurate timepiece the world had ever seen โ and it changed an entire industry overnight.
So-called pendulum clocks quickly swept through western Europe. Mechanics there couldnโt help but tinker with Huygensโ brainchild. Thus, the longcase clock was born. Conceived in London, these originally hit the market in about 1660. Most early models stood around 6 feet tall. Their midsections consisted of wooden cases that housed the ever-important pendulums. Over time, clockmakers started installing longer pendulums, which required longer cases in turn, hence the phrase โlongcase clock.โ
Today, we might still be using that mundane term if it hadnโt been for a songwriter whoโs been nicknamed โAmericaโs war poet.โ
Born in Middletown, Connecticut, on Oct. 1, 1832, Henry Clay Work was a self-taught musician and lyricist. He first made a name for himself during Americaโs Civil War. Throughout the conflict, Workโs writings championed the Northern cause. โKingdom Coming,โ Workโs 1862 pro-Union ballad, earned him a contract with the Root & Cady music-publishing firm. For the next nine years, he produced numerous hits for the company.
Unfortunately, the postwar years were not kind to Work. Two of his children died in the 1870s and a bad business venture left him financially embarrassed. Nevertheless, he kept on writing.
One of his later offerings was titled โGrandfatherโs Clock.โ According to his nephew Bertram, Henry Clay Work spent four years writing this piece, which Root & Cady published in 1876. The ditty tells the tale of a grandfather who received a brand-new longcase clock on the day of his birth. A lifetime later, the man and his timepiece enter the great beyond together. โMy grandfatherโs clock was too large for the shelf, so it stood ninety years on the floor,โ reads the opening verse. โIt was bought on the morn of the day he was born and was always his treasure and pride. But it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.โ
Workโs last mega-hit, โGrandfatherโs Clockโ emerged as an instant classic โ and an enduring one. Selling more than 800,000 copies, the song made its author $4,000 richer. In later decades, it was covered by Johnny Cash, spoofed on โA Prairie Home Companionโ and even remixed for the soundtrack of the indie video game โFive Nights at Freddyโs 2โ. On top of all that, The Oxford English Dictionary credits this song with popularizing the term โgrandfather clock.โ
And so, Workโs song inspired a new nickname for a centuries-old timepiece. But what was it that inspired the song itself? Two theories are out there. The George Hotel of Piercebridge in North Yorkshire, England, claims that โGrandfatherโs Clockโ was conceived right in its lobby. Work once stayed there while traveling through the U.K. in 1874. After checking in, itโs said that he spotted a handsome longcase clock in the hotelโs lobby. The hands seemed to be jammed, frozen in place at the 11:05 mark. Upon asking a staffer about this broken clock, he was told that it belonged to the late Jenkins brothers, whoโd once owned the hotel. Their clock, Work learned, was purchased on the day the older sibling was born. Supposedly, it was the most reliable timepiece a person could ask for. But when one brother died, the clock slowed down. Then years later, when death took the other sibling, its final โtickโ rang out. According to legend, itโs been silent ever since.
Alas, this story is probably just a bit of local folklore. Even so, the George Hotel of Piercebridge cites it as the inspiration behind โGrandfatherโs Clock.โ The hotelโs website even features an entire page to that old clock, which is still on display in the lobby.
Then again, one Massachusetts family offers a different explanation. The relatives of Workโs wife, Sarah Parker, believe that they possess the clock that begat this iconic song. To hear the Parkers tell it, the songwriter took his cues from an old longcase formerly owned by Sarahโs grandfather. All these years later, this wooden clock still belongs to the Parkers โ and no, it doesnโt work either.
Credited to: https://history.howstuffworks.com/