the 19th century was like the original cyberpunk dystopia

multiheaded1793:

wigglyflippingout:

firelord-frowny:

how did anyone manage to be on time for anything before the invention of alarm clocks, like????

shit i actually know this frowny

1. way back, the idea of time was much looser than it was now. ‘sunup’ was good enough.

2. church bells were important for organizing entire towns and giving people schedules – though they tended to be more nebulous than on the hour. instead church bells would ring for ‘start of evening services’ or something like that.

3. accurate measurement of time with sundials and clockwork to keep that time is what really made our current perception of time, and the idea of being on time at all.

4. with that said there have been a whole host of wacky-ass alarm clocks. this can go all the way from stuff like water clocks ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_clock ) to modern, with a detour for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial_cannon SUNDIAL CANNONS because nothing says “hey it’s noon” like a motherfucking cannon going off

5. for a period of time when people had schedules (e.g. industrial revolution ‘be here at eight on the factory floor’) but technology was not small enough/easily-made enough for everyone to have an alarm clock, it would be somebody’s actual job to keep tabs on the time and then knock on people’s windows to get them up in the morning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocker-up

Factory sirens to wake up the morning shift workers in the neighbourhood! You see a lot of those in 19th century books. Dark satanic mills indeed…