Clocks are instruments that are used to measure, indicate and keep time. Although a large number of different types of clocks are available, including Grandfather Clocks, Cuckoo Clocks, Alarm Clocks, Mantel Clocks, Musical Clocks, Table Clocks, Wall Clocks and Desk Clocks, Cuckoo Clocks are among the most beloved.
Of course Cuckoo Clocks keep accurate time, but they also entertain us. The typical design of a Cuckoo Clock looks like a quaint wooden chalet or ski lodge that hangs on a wall. The wooden clock case is almost always decorated with carved leaves, birds and other animals. Most Cuckoo Clocks feature a carved cuckoo bird that pops out through a small double door when the clock is striking. When the bird appears the clock also produces a "cuckoo" sound that mimics a real cuckoo bird's call. At the full hour the cuckoo sounds the appropriate number of hours (for example, three cuckoos when it is 3 o'clock), and at the half hour the cuckoo sounds once.
The Cuckoo Clock as we know it today originated in the Black Forest of Germany a few hundred years ago, and the best ones are still produced there. Cuckoo Clocks have become inextricably linked to the Black Forest, Bavaria and parts of Switzerland, and they make treasured, everlasting souvenirs of a trip to one of those areas.
Like Grandfather Clocks, Cuckoo Clocks are weight-driven pendulum clocks. But while Grandfather Clocks enclose the pendulum system inside the tall case, the pendulums of Cuckoo Clocks are almost always fully exposed. The cast iron weights are often shaped like elongated pinecones, adding to the rustic German or Swiss country styling of the clock itself. The case of a Cuckoo Clock, like a Grandfather Clock, usually features elaborately carved designs on the area which surrounds and frames the clock face.
Cuckoo Clocks, like Grandfather Clocks, usually have one of two types of movements. In the case of Cuckoo Clocks, the choices are an eight-day movement or a 1-day movement. All traditional Cuckoo Clocks
produce a "Cuckoo" sound by passing puffs of air through 2 tiny pipes in the clock.
Some Cuckoo Clocks have musical movements that play a song (often Edelweiss, the Happy Wanderer or another traditional Germanic song) after sounding the hour. And quartz Cuckoo Clocks are now available, driven by batteries instead of pendulums and weights. They are not as authentic as the traditional mechanical Cuckoo Clocks - they use an animated plastic cuckoo and a recorded cuckoo sound. But some do have the advantage of a built-in photocell which turns off the cuckoo's call when the room is dark, allowing undisturbed sleep.
Several different sizes and styles of Cuckoo Clocks are available. Wood is almost exclusively used for traditionally styled Cuckoo Clock cases, with several different types of woods and finishes available.
Traditional-style Cuckoo Clocks are highly decorated with ornate carvings, and they are
treasured possessions, heirlooms that are passed from parents to their children. Yes, they keep time accurately, but any clock will do that. More than any other type of clock, Cuckoo Clocks entertain
us and delight us.
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