Archive for February, 2012
Have you ever taken a look at the inside of a cuckoo clock? It’s fascinating to see all the gears and mechanisms in action. Weights are primarily used to drive the movement of cuckoo clocks.
In one day and eight day cuckoo clocks the cuckoo announces the time at the top of the hour. In some models, the time is also called out on the quarter and half hours. The weights in one day and eight day clocks look similar, with the eight day clocks a bit larger and heavier, accounting for the fact that those models are wound less frequently.
One of my favorite new television shows is called Grimm. As the title suggests, the show involves characters from the Grimm’s fairy tales. One of the main characters, named Monroe, is a Wieder Blutbad aka a werewolf.
In this version of modern day fairy tales, Monroe is a reformed werewolf. He doesn’t eat meat, he exercises and meditates to keep from going into rages. He is also a professional clockmaker. The show has strong German references – most of the creatures have German names – so I will have to keep my eyes peeled to see if there are any 8 day cuckoo clocks in Monroe’s workshop next episode.