# How did people sync to the correct time in decades past? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016 "2011-09-29T15:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/41 "2011-09-30T03:57:11Z")
Re WWV: Early in the '20s it didn’t give time signals at all, only standard frequency tones. [NAA](http://earlyradiohistory.us/1922exct.htm), the Navy’s station at Arlington, VA, relayed time “dashes” to several of the big eastern broadcast stations. (In those pre-network days, with no ad time to sell, the NAA signals lasted 5 whole minutes.) Radio listeners could also set their watches pretty reliably by when the switch was flipped to network programs. Every station on the net had to do it manually - that’s why NBC introduced their [chimes](http://nbcchimes.info/). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/42 "2011-09-30T07:31:35Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > In the time before mechanical clocks, was there often a sundial in town squares? More than in town squares I’ve seen them in _eras_… I can’t find a translation, it’s the large open space where cereals would be brought in order to separate the grain from its stems. Also on churches above the south-facing gate. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/43 "2011-09-30T07:44:29Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > In California at least, the phone number to get the time was “767-####”, but usually remembered as “POP-CORN” (any four numbers after 767 worked). The service was discontinued in 2007. [http://redwoodtech.org/there-no-more-popcorn-time](http://redwoodtech.org/there-no-more-popcorn-time) > > Growing up in Wisconsin I was a stickler about my watch being right and used to call the time number there too. It wasn’t POP-CORN though, and sadly that little bit of trivia is lost from my memory. > [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Huh. When I was growing up in Riverside, CA in the 70’s and 80’s, it was 853-####. POPCORN was in Northern CA, I think; I grew up in San Diego, and used 853-whatever until I moved to the Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/44 "2011-09-30T08:02:13Z")
The Edinburgh [One O’Clock Cannon](http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/index/tour/highlights/highlights-one-oclock-gun.htm) - and the ball on the hill. This may be what you were thinking of, **Rythmdvl** , although if it was your sources were off by 11 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/45 "2011-09-30T12:15:37Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > In California at least, the phone number to get the time was “767-####”, but usually remembered as “POP-CORN” (any four numbers after 767 worked). The service was discontinued in 2007. [http://redwoodtech.org/there-no-more-popcorn-time](http://redwoodtech.org/there-no-more-popcorn-time) I was going to post about growing up using POP-CORN to set all the clocks; I had no idea it had been discontinued. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/46 "2011-09-30T13:29:11Z")
There used to be a local number to call for time and temperature. I don’t remember what it was, xxx-1234 I think. It was inaccurate by about 4 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/47 "2011-09-30T16:56:25Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Up until about the '80s, being within five minutes or so of the correct time was all that 99.9% of the people needed. 😕 Even before the '80s (unless you mean the 1880s), having a watch that’s five minutes off was a good way to miss a train and have to wait an hour or more for the next one. :smack: It still is. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/48 "2011-09-30T17:40:22Z")
I can’t find the cite for this, but apparently in some major cities in the 1800s, a few people managed to make a living by setting a pocket watch to the main city clock, then wandering round selling the correct time to businesses. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/49 "2011-09-30T18:10:30Z")
Church bells was the main way of keeping the local time. On a bigger scale, in the 1800s in the UK every city was on a slightly different time zone, often very random ones - I seem to remember Bristolwas about 14 minutes ahead of London. The introduction of railways meant that the differences in times started to become a problem and the railway operators created a standardised “[railway time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time)”, which was the same as London time, set at Greenwich. Gradually all cities began to use railway time instead of their local times, although for a period Bristol retained its local time, and there’s still a famous clock in the main train station there which has two minute hands, about 14 minutes apart. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/50 "2011-09-30T19:11:37Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > 😕 Even before the '80s (unless you mean the 1880s), having a watch that’s five minutes off was a good way to miss a train and have to wait an hour or more for the next one. :smack: It still is. 😉 That’s why you should always leave yourself some margin. I’m somewhat compulsive about arriving well before any scheduled event. Interestingly, my kids, who have never been without the exact time, are perfectly comfortable arriving right on time. Drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/51 "2011-09-30T19:35:04Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > Church bells was the main way of keeping the local time. I regularly visit a town where this is still done. But a few years back they had a malfunction that occurred at approximately 329 o’clock. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/52 "2011-10-01T03:09:29Z")
Another story I remember - people used to ask phone operators for the time, and after network radio, the did the same with their local radio affiliate. In 1930, KWK, St. Louis, had so many calls for the correct time that they’d grown into a real nuisance. So they monetized it - hired a special number and a few more phone girls and started selling advertisers on the scheme. They had something over 4,000 calls the first day - each caller was read a quick ad slogan and given the “branded” time. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/53 "2011-10-01T04:18:08Z")
Early mechanical clocks often had only a single hand – the ‘hour’ one. That was about as close as people of that time had to be to an exact time. This was much like the sundials that they replaced – those too only had markings for the hours. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/54 "2011-10-01T06:47:05Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > 😕 Even before the '80s (unless you mean the 1880s), having a watch that’s five minutes off was a good way to miss a train and have to wait an hour or more for the next one. :smack: It still is. 😉 I actually set my watch a little fast for years, because I hated to miss the beginning of **Cheers**. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/55 "2011-10-01T15:27:00Z")
Now that the thread has died down, I’d like to report that a lot more than 4,000 people called the [KWK Time Teller](http://www.route56.com/radio/mid/kwk.html) on its first day in 1930. It was more like _44,000_. Gives you an idea how many people relied on radio stations for the time - or maybe how desperate for a little something new people were in 1930… ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/56 "2011-10-01T15:44:43Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > Church bells was the main way of keeping the local time. > > On a bigger scale, in the 1800s in the UK every city was on a slightly different time zone, often very random ones - I seem to remember Bristolwas about 14 minutes ahead of London. The introduction of railways meant that the differences in times started to become a problem and the railway operators created a standardised “[railway time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time)”, which was the same as London time, set at Greenwich. Gradually all cities began to use railway time instead of their local times, although for a period Bristol retained its local time, and there’s still a famous clock in the main train station there which has two minute hands, about 14 minutes apart. That one time worked great for Britain. Sir Sanford Fleming realized it was not as simple for larger areas; Canada spans 5.5 time zones. OTOH, the whole of China uses Beijing time. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/57 "2011-10-04T02:15:49Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I make it a habit to set my watch 30 milliseconds ahead to avoid this very thing. The problem is, I always mentally adjust for that and screw myself. “Crap–I’m late! Oh, yeah, I set my watch 30 milliseconds ahead–no worries!” But by the time I finish thinking that, I’ve used up my 30 millisecond buffer and I really _am_ late. > [@postpic200](#): > > From the 30’s on a lot of radio stations would say “At the tone the time will be x” there would be a pause then a tone and you knew what time it was. There are radio stations that still do this. The news station I listen to, KRLD out of Dallas, doesn’t announce it–but they play a tone exactly at the top of each hour. I use it to reset my car radio’s clock, which is pretty (I drive a Chrysler) but mechanically deficient and keeps terrible time (I drive a Chrysler). > [@John\_Bredin](#): > > 😕 Even before the '80s (unless you mean the 1880s), having a watch that’s five minutes off was a good way to miss a train and have to wait an hour or more for the next one. :smack: It still is. 😉 Or worse. I used to commute from Chicago’s Union Station to Aurora via Metra. There’s no worse feeling than missing the last express of the night by two minutes. Aside from having to wait ages for the next train, that train also stopped at EVERY … STINKING … STATION from downtown to Kane county. Made me think about just getting a hotel downtown for the night. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/58 "2011-10-05T03:44:48Z")
CBC (the Canadian public broadcasting network) still announces the time just before the noon news on Radio 1. ---
**Author:** ![DHMO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@DHMO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHMO)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/59 "2011-10-05T08:22:42Z")
Having an accurate concept of time has been important throughout history. The exploits of the Greek general, Alexander the Great (356—323 BCE), would not have been possible otherwise. The Greeks had discovered a solution of reagents, which, when a cloth strip had been soaked in it, would slowly change color over the course of several hours. Alexander, at the start of a major battle, would issue these strips to each of his captains, with instructions to enter the battle at precise times, as shown by the colors. They would tie these strips around their wrists or forearms, so the colors would be readily visible. So, it turns out that much of the spread of Greek culture and influence in the ancient world was due to… . . . wait for it… . . . Alexander’s Rag Time Band! ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_Kaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Eddie\_Kaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_Kaye)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016/60 "2023-02-27T00:42:01Z")
Back in 1957 I had my first experience with accurate time. I was in a radio show at WNYE, the education station for New York city schools. The show started at an exact time, and we had to be there at exactly the right time! The studio, at Brooklyn Technical HS, had a very accurate clock. It was an awakening to me that people even thought about time being followed accurately. I began to get interested in such things as time and space, and eventually went on to become a PhD physicist because of this type of thing. I had an exciting 40+ year career as an astrophysicist as a result. Cheers to my alma mater, Brooklyn Tech. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-sync-to-the-correct-time-in-decades-past/598016.md?page=4)