[Central Scrutiniser]

Ticked off: Daylight Saving Time leaves some critics in the dark

By Mary Jo Palumbo

Saturday, April 2, 2005 - Updated: 08:33 AM EST http://theedge.bostonherald.com/lifeNews/view.bg?articleid=76159

Whose idea was it to start messing with the clocks?

And why move them forward in the spring, when what we really need is more daylight in the winter?
At 2 a.m. tomorrow, clocks across the nation move forward an hour.
Whose bright idea was this?

Politicians and businessmen, ministers and sports fans have debated the merits of this time change for a century.

In ``Spring Forward: the Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time,'' Cambridge author Michael Downing explores the myths and misconceptions - and just plain confusion - that have characterized the annual adjustment of clocks in the past century.

Here are a couple of longstanding myths Downing is eager to debunk:

Myth One: The concept for Daylight Saving Time started with farmers who wanted more daylight to work the land.

Wrongo. When the first daylight saving plans were proposed, farmers wanted nothing to do with it.

One Missouri farmer dubbed it ``the Daylight Robbing Law'' because it stole the morning light needed to harvest grains and pick fruit, according to the book.

Myth Two: It's called Daylight Savings Time.

``Here's the deal,'' said Downing, ``This is just one more thing Americans are confused about. We confuse (Daylight Saving Time) with the idea of a savings account, as if there really is a way to preserve an hour of time.''

If the farmers didn't support the time change, who did?

``The early supporters of daylight saving were the department stores,'' said Downing, who teaches creative writing at Tufts University. ``They understood that an extra hour of light after work meant that people were more apt to buy retail goods.''

The other big-time player in the push to spring ahead was Major League Baseball.

``(Daylight Saving Time) gave working people and school children an opportunity to see the games because there was an extra hour of afternoon light,'' said Downing.

``The extra hour of light made it possible to finish more tie games. The first year of Daylight Saving (in 1918), the number of tie games went down from 22 to five.''

[longtermmemmory]

This is dumb, it screws up Holloween.

[Melas]

This is so stupid. My favorite was: The change, though, would be beneficial for some farmers who would get an extra hour of daylight for a longer portion of the year.

Hello, same number of daylight hours in a day. Farmers hit the trail and dawn, and that's not going to change.

[RenaissanceNerd]

DST was invented in Germany to save money for municipalities and swept the world somehow in the midst of WWI. I'm in AZ and we do not participate in the madness, especially because air conditioning trumps lights by a LOT.

It might make sense in northern states but in southern states it's just a waste of time. At least this time they're being honest about the reason; I've heard over and over that DST is 'for the farmers' but it turns out nobody was more opposed to it than farmers back when it was adopted. Why? Farmers get up when it's dark anyway, and screwing up the hours of the day screws up their routine. If you get up at 0400, and you've got a job that requires light at 0700, and now it won't be light till 0800...well you get the picture. So farmers mostly ignored it and avoided time-travel.

Though this time they're telling us that they want to save a little money it's not going to make much difference. AC is getting on towards universal, and what with all the electronics in houses these days the power consumption goes up at night when everybody gets home from work.

A boondoggle worthy of Congress.

[don-o]

I have a pretty good newly elected state rep here. I am going to try to get him busy on exempting Tennessee from DST.

Uh, is that doable? Or will the Yankee nation invade us again - this time to mess with our clocks?

[Dr.Deth]

Works for me... later sunset = more golf.

[Mygirlsmom]

They tried this in the 70's during Jimmy's energy crisis. I remember starting my day in Middle School in pitch blackness during the winter. For the life of me, I can't quite figure out where the "Energy Savings" is - I mean, we didn't get ready for school in the dark without TURNING ON SOME LIGHTS!

[savedbygrace]

Change it by 1/2 hour year 'round and be done with it.

[Lancey Howard]

I love daylight savings time.
If it was up to me, it would be year-round.

[The South Texan]

No problems here because it allows me time to come home after work and get all of my yardwork, car work, etc. done on weekdays so I can sit on my rear end and watch football on Saturdays and Sundays.

I LOVE IT!

[PizzaDriver]

The following was written to my State Rep {in Nebraska}...
The "wise folks" in DC have told use that 4 More Weeks of DST will save $$$.

Who's Money {Corporate, Home Owner, Renter}? Which Climate Zone {Gulf Coast, Alaska, ours}?

When DST started, less than 20% of Omaha homes or apartments had AC. A much smaller Metro Omaha supported 10 "Drive In" Movie Screens; now it supports ONE {it's in Iowa}.

In "post DST Omaha", Charities {like the Salvation Army} must BEG for FANS. These Fans are to be given to the working poor & those who Can't Work. For the "working poor", their bedrooms need artificial cooling to compensate for the delayed Sunset.

DST doesn't help average folks. It adds 1 of the hottest hours of any July Day to their Home AC Bill.

When Ben Franklin originated the Idea; it was to save on Candles & Whale Oil. Cooling was NOT part of the Equazition!

In 2007, 4 weeks of Autumn or Early Spring will be added to DST. That's 4 more weeks of dark & dangerous Mornings for "bus riders" {School or Mass Transit}.

If I had your Position; I'd offer a Bill to Remove the "Central Time Zone Portion of Nebraska " from DST.

For the "DST Months", our whole State would be on the Same Clock.

For the "DST Months", the Iowa & Nebraska Bars would close at the same TIME! 1 AM CT =2 AM DCT.

DST isn't an Idea that helps "the working poor"..