Cuckoo Clocks Striking the Hour
By Barbara Tobiasz

Back in the fourteenth century mechanical clocks appeared. A bell sounded every hour. These clocks did not have hands or faces. The speed of the clocks movement was driven by weights and springs. The most important event in clock making took place in the early nineteenth century. It was the introduction of mass production and interchangeable parts. Before this time clocks were only available to the wealthy.

The cuckoo clock is typically pendulum driven and strikes the hours using small bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the common cuckoo in addition to striking a wire gong. This mechanism was produced since the eighteenth century and has remained almost without variation until the present.

In the nineteen fifties electrical currents ran through quartz crystals which caused vibrations to operate the movements. This type of movement is used in many of our wall clocks today.

The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in southwestern Germany. Wood carving is a traditional industry in this region. There is a legend that is told over and over again that the cuckoo clock was invented by a Black Forest mechanic This has been found to be untrue. As early as sixteen fifty the bird with the distinctive call was written in reference books. It took nearly a century for the cuckoo clock to find its way to the Black Forest. The people did develop the cuckoo clock industry and are still coming up with new designs and technical improvements. This has made the cuckoo clock a valued work of art all over the world.

Most familiar to many is the design that is conventionally carved from wood and made to hang from the wall. These are usually decorated with leaves and animals and have an automated bird that appears through a small trap door while the clock is striking the hour. Some other familiar features of cuckoo clocks are some can be musical, some have sounds of chimes, they can be pendulum or quartz driven and feature a novelty and have elaborate carvings.

No matter what kind of life style, purchasing a wall mounted cuckoo clock is a very special moment in ones life. These clocks seem to fill your home with love and laughter. They bring a gift of charm and sophistication with their melodies and motion.

The movement is the heart of your clock. Some cuckoo clocks need to be key wound daily or weekly. There are also quartz clocks that are battery operated. Some batteries last years without needing to be replaced. You do get a different feeling from a quartz clock than mechanically driven clocks. The animated cuckoo is usually made out of plastic and gives off a recorded cuckoo sound. All are fitted with manual volume controls and shut off switches. They also have sensors that silence the clock after dark.

Since its popularity, the cuckoo clock has been a common character in children’s literature, comics and cartoons. This is due to children that are amazed by the magic of the happy bird that lives in the clock and jumps out to announce the hour. This is one reason why you find wall novelty cuckoo clocks hanging on walls in many children’s rooms. In my daughters bed room she has one that features Mickey Mouse.

You literally can find a cuckoo clock that will fit in any room for any taste and will truly become a focal point and conversation piece. The price depends on the quality and what materials were used in the construction of the clock. You can find cuckoo clock prices starting under one hundred dollars and going up to thousands of dollars depending on the artwork and the mechanical features involved.

For warranties and repairs you should check with the company you purchase the clock from. If you purchase one that was made in the Black Forest you will receive a certificate of authenticity. They are held to higher standards and are always mechanically powered. The certificate shows its internationality by being written bilingually in German and in English.

Our rapid advancement in technology keeps scientists and craftsmen working to create a cuckoo clock with one hundred percent accuracy. We have come close and we are destined to continue.

Author Bio: Barbara Tobiasz is an expert in interior/exterior decorating. Along with her husband Joe, they own and operate Wall-Decor-Concepts.com. For more information on Cuckoo Clocks, go to Wall Clocks at: http://www.Wall-Decor-Concepts.com

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