solosater

Didn't Daylight Saving Time originally have something to do with farming and the rest of the world? I thought it was so the people/children working on farms would have extra time before the day started for everyone else.

Don't throw things at the dunce here, I grew up in a state that never did DST.

solosater

Dragon, that one looks more like Stella than the other, I'd still say German Shepherd though. Perhaps I'll text her later, Lisa not Stella, and ask. Stella is very smart but still no thumbs...

Dragon

I too had always heard that DST had to do with giving farmers extra time. That's why I thought it was funny that one of the only places in Canada that no longer does DST is Saskatchewan, they are kind of our bread basket.

matthew

Early adoption in law

Daylight Saving Time has been used in the U.S. and in many European countries since World War I. At that time, in an effort to conserve fuel needed to produce electric power, Germany and Austria took time by the forelock, and began saving daylight at 11:00 p.m. on April 30, 1916, by advancing the hands of the clock one hour until the following October. Other countries immediately adopted this 1916 action: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, and Tasmania. Nova Scotia and Manitoba adopted it as well, with Britain following suit three weeks later, on May 21, 1916. In 1917, Australia and Newfoundland began saving daylight.

The plan was not formally adopted in the U.S. until 1918. 'An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States' was enacted on March 19, 1918. It both established standard time zones and set summer DST to begin on March 31, 1918. Daylight Saving Time was observed for seven months in 1918 and 1919. After the War ended, the law proved so unpopular (mostly because people rose earlier and went to bed earlier than people do today) that it was repealed in 1919 with a Congressional override of President Wilson's veto. Daylight Saving Time became a local option, and was continued in a few states, such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and in some cities, such as New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago

matthew

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round Daylight Saving Time, called "War Time," from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. From 1945 to 1966, there was no federal law regarding Daylight Saving Time, so states and localities were free to choose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time and could choose when it began and ended. This understandably caused confusion, especially for the broadcasting industry, as well as for railways, airlines, and bus companies. Because of the different local customs and laws, radio and TV stations and the transportation companies had to publish new schedules every time a state or town began or ended Daylight Saving Time.

On January 4, 1974, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Then, beginning on January 6, 1974, implementing the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act, clocks were set ahead. On October 5, 1974, Congress amended the Act, and Standard Time returned on October 27, 1974. Daylight Saving Time resumed on February 23, 1975 and ended on October 26, 1975.

In the early 1960s, observance of Daylight Saving Time was quite inconsistent, with a hodgepodge of time observances, and no agreement about when to change clocks. The Interstate Commerce Commission, the nation's timekeeper, was immobilized, and the matter remained deadlocked. Many business interests were supportive of standardization, although it became a bitter fight between the indoor and outdoor theater industries. The farmers, however, were opposed to such uniformity. State and local governments were a mixed bag, depending on local conditions.

Efforts at standardization were encouraged by a transportation industry organization, the Committee for Time Uniformity. They surveyed the entire nation, through questioning telephone operators as to local time observances, and found the situation was quite confusing. Next, the Committee's goal was a strong supportive story on the front page of the New York Times. Having rallied the general public's support, the Time Uniformity Committee's goal was accomplished, but only after discovering and disclosing that on the 35-mile stretch of highway (Route 2) between Moundsville, W.V., and Steubenville, Ohio, every bus driver and his passengers had to endure seven time changes!

solosater

Having never had to deal with the whole mess it has always been my opinion that the time is the time, if my clock says noon but the sun is not high in the sky my clock is wrong not the sun. The idea of changing time is just silly.

Dragon

What would you think if you lived in the land of the midnight sun?

matthew

I personally could care less about the time or the sun... I do what I do when i do it regardless of either...

solosater

I would guess that if I grew up there, I would still know the earth's rotation was not going to change just because I set my clock forward or back.

It's not a matter of business or of energy for me, it is a matter of fact. We cannot change the TIME we can only change the clock.

I have often wanted to visit the far north and see the "daylight" at night and the "night" during the day, it is something I think I would really enjoy experiencing for myself. I did get to see the Northern Lights while in Vermont but I hear they are more colorful further north.

solosater

I haven't been in years but I'm reminded of when we used to go camping for a couple of weeks in the fall. We didn't set an alarm we just got up.

Without business and industry telling us to be somewhere at a certain time we follow the rhythm set by the earth and the sun and our own bodies. This is why I find it silly. I don't say there is not or has not been a good argument for it, just that you cannot "save" daylight.

You can on the other hand waste daylight. I'm quite good at that!

matthew

LOL @ being good @ daylight wasting time...

Dragon

Oh, I'm with you solosater. I can waste a whole lot of daylight. I'm very efficient at it. I can waste hours of it a day. The invention of the internet has helped me become much more efficient at it then ever before. I'm certain I waste more daylight now then I did before I was connected.

solosater

I even waste the night away sometimes on the computer!

Referring to out other discussion, I'm off to do some cutting for the boys now, I'll try not to slice any necks.

solosater

-out +our

Baldur

The apartment that Baldur is working on this week is right next to a church.
I look forward to the bells chiming every hour, that is probably the best part of this task.
The building is quite old and parts of the floor are rather spongy, there are mouse droppings in every closet, cupboard and drawer.
Baldur will make the place look attractive but it is still going to be a nightmare.

GOLDIEGIRL8

Don't wanna live there!

Login

We still change our clocks in UK as does most (if not all) of Europe. The thing that baffles me is, how does it help farmers? If I was a farmer and wanted my day to start earlier (or later), I would simply set my alarm clock to wake me at the right time.

Baldur

It's so the cows adjust their schedules and wake up earlier; one cannot milk a sleeping cow. They find it rude.

Robindcr8l

Login, that is the same argument I have made all along...how does adjusting EVERYONE's clocks help the few people who could just set their alarm clocks earlier? These time changes, both in the fall and in the spring, are such difficult adjustments, especially for small children and animals. My dogs start their tap dance at like 3pm now for dinner. Makes me nuts.

I hear every year on the news in the spring how daylight savings time will give us an extra hour of daylight. I'm telling you, these newscasters really seem to BELIEVE that we are gaining an extra hour of daylight fromt his time change. DUH. The number of hours of daylight is not actually adjustable for us mere mortals, only the TIME, apparently. I think these time changes are the stupidest things. And especially when the day shift can't seem to get it right!

Normal

Robin & Login are certainly right about not getting an "extra hour" anywhere - and not losing it either. The hour is a totally arbitrary construct that we have come up with for our human convenience. My favorite comment going around on the Net is from an Indian chief who said, "Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the bottom of a blanket and sew it on at the top and call that an improvement."