Cuckoo Clocks: A Bit of History
Some interesting tidbits on the history of cuckoo clocks, in case you ever wondered how they came about. The following information was culled from a variety of sources on the Internet, so the accuracy I cannot guarantee as I am not a historian of this subject. Rather, I was intrigued by them as a kid when I first saw (and heard) one at my aunt’s house long ago. Once again my curiosity was piqued when I saw a program on how they are made. This was the first step in a series that ultimately led me to opening my on-line store at www.clocks4you.com.
The cuckoo clock may have been invented around 1730 by Franz Anton Ketterer, a well-known Black Forest clockmaker.
The Black Forest region is famous for its clock-making, toy industries, music boxes and glass-making crafts. Winters there are long, dark, cold, and characterized by deep snowfalls. With forestry and agriculture limited during this season, a cottage industry arose in the production of cuckoo clocks. Glass-making was a traditional craft, and clock-making sprang indirectly from a traveler who introduced a simple Bohemian clock operated by three wheels on a train (continuous drive), a verge escapement (the device that allows the train to advance a controlled amount by restraining it with weights), and a foliot (a balance bar). The clock was not ornate. The local citizens learned how to copy the clock and make the tools to craft it. They also worked together as a group with specialists in frame-making, manufacturing the clockworks, making and painting dials, brass founding, making chains and gongs, finishing metal parts, and performing many supporting tasks. The clockmaker made his own patterns and styles; parts for his clocks were unique and not interchangeable with other makers. By the late 1700s, the clocks were a profitable export for the region. The cuckoo’s sound was simply incorporated in the contemporary clocks of the day. They had face shields—full front plates that were enameled with the face near the center—rather than the wood frame developed later. Ketterer’s clocks were driven by suspended weights shaped like pine. That style is used to this day.
One Day Hand-Carved Cuckoo Clock with Five Maple Leaves & One Bird - 9 Inches Tall
The cuckoo’s sound was simply incorporated in the contemporary clocks at that time. The variety of cuckoo clocks reflects clock-making styles driven by consumer preference. For instance a clock dating from 1770 may have a painted face shield with roses and castles which may have been influenced by English preferences and was eventually popularized throughout southern Germany and Central Europe. The decorations were continually modified to suit the targeted market. For instance, the French liked large bouquets of bright flowers and called the cuckoo clocks “Swiss clocks” even though most were made in Germany. Scandinavians preferred hexagonal or octagonal faces, while the Dutch and Belgians liked tin or porcelain dials. In England, they were simple mahogany rims with glass held in place with brass bezels.
By the mid-eighteenth century, cuckoo clocks moved from the “cottage” industry to factories. By the 1850’s, a style called the “chalet” style dominated; the frame shows a lodge at the base of the clock, the clock dial over the roof with carved trees and animals rising above the dial to the top of the frame. Usually, the cuckoo clock had two drive trains, one for the clock movement and the other for the so-called striking train used for the sounds and actions produced with the striking of the hour.
Modern cuckoo clocks have retained the suspended pine-cone weights. Some large cuckoo clocks made at the end of the nineteenth century also housed barometers. Later clocks from about 1900 have wood frames, brass wheel works, and a wooden carved cuckoo on a sweeping stand that shifted forward to chime the hour. In the twentieth century the cuckoo clock manufacturers began equipping some models with quartz clocks that play twelve different tunes, one for each hour with a shutoff to silence the bird for a programmable number of hours during the night.
Wood is the critical raw material for the manufacture of cuckoo clocks because the wood casing is the primary feature that distinguishes the cuckoo clock in appearance as well as resonates the sound much as the sound board does for the piano. Cuckoo clocks are made from the wood of the linden tree, a hardwood that grows in Europe. Some parts of the housing may also be made of walnut. Skilled wood workers purchase the linden and walnut woods well in advance so the wood can be aged for several years.
The cuckoo clock is distinguished by the cuckoo bird and its ‘song’. The pipes and bellows that make the cuckoo’s call are also made of wood. Clocks that play tunes are fitted with music boxes. The pine cone weights and the leaf-shaped weight on the end of the pendulum are made of lead and are produced in metal foundries to the clock-maker’s specifications. The foundries that produce these weights are also experts in small, detailed metalwork.
As the history of the cuckoo clock suggests, design of the clock and its highly recognizable parts is based on tradition. Clock manufacturers have developed their own styles of chalets and forest scenes for the wood work as well as particular “casts of characters” for the cuckoo bird itself or the villagers or animals that may share “action scenes” with the cuckoo. Many customers buy cuckoo clocks for their traditional style. The addition of digital features increases the variety of music and bird songs that the clocks can produce.
The Manufacturing Process
- Manufacture of the cuckoo clock begins in the hands of the wood worker. The craftsman selects the pieces of wood to be used and cuts them to the approximate lengths and shapes he will need. Power tools and hand tools are both used. Hand tools may include measuring tools, saws, rasps, hammer and chisel, files, abrasives such as sandpaper, and clamps and adhesives. The box-like case or cabinet for the clock is cut, fitted, and glued together.
- The outer frame—the decorative part of the clock featuring the traditional forest and chalet scene—begins with a stenciled design on paper. The craftsmen make and collect sets of stencils based on their own drawings and those that have been handed down. The sets of stencils are made for specific sizes of clocks. After choosing the stencil for the size and style of clock, the wood worker draws the design on the wood and begins carving and shaping the frame. Much is done by hand.
- When the frame and the case are complete, both are stained and left to dry.
- When the frame and case are fully dried, the clock is assembled by first mounting the movement within the case. In the old days of village manufacture, the craftsmen who carved the wood and assembled the clock probably lived in the same village as the music-box maker and clock-maker. The clock-maker poured and handcrafted the internal workings of the clock himself and assembled them. Today, manufacturers buy preassembled clock movements, and the process is reduced to fitting it in the case and properly fixing the movement into place with wood screws or other fasteners.
- The sound-making devices are attached to the top of the clock. These include the pipes and bellows for the cuckoo sound and the music box. Attachments that are usually extensions of drive chains are linked to the sets of wire hooks and metal cams and pins that activate the cuckoo and any other moving figures and the doors. The cuckoo is connected to its bellows operation, and the other figures are mobilized by the strike movement. A third movement initiates the playing of the music box. Finally, the pendulum and weight chains are connected to the movement and the lead weights are clipped to the chain ends.
- The assembled clock is carefully packaged to protect the moving parts and the delicate carved framework. Individually boxed clocks are packed in cartons for shipping and distribution.
Quality is built into every cuckoo clock because each one is hand made. Quality is the mark of the craftsman, and, as with all handcrafted products, gifted and highly trained wood workers will not risk their reputations on poorly made clocks. The final quality step is a complete examination of the finished piece and a trial operation.
Byproducts/Waste is usually kept to a minimum. Some wood scraps and shavings do result from crafting the case and carving the frame, but attentive selection of the right pieces of wood for the project and stencils that accentuate the character of the wood limit the volume of scrap. The wood is also too expensive for the wood workers to waste.
Newly manufactured cuckoo clocks are still among of the most sought-after souvenirs of vacations in the heart of Europe and especially in Germany’s Black Forest region. In America, many families can trace their roots to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other European localities where cuckoo clocks are traditional ornaments for the home. Consequently, there is a market in America for clocks that represent the best traditions of cuckoo-clock making.
Cuckoo clocks are also highly prized antiques. Hand-crafted clocks with a traceable history are sought by collectors, but antique hunters also search for factory-made cuckoo clocks. Those dating from the 1850s are highly sought after based on the name of the maker; names like Gustav Becker, the United Freiburg Clock Factory, Winterhalder & Hofmeier, Kienzle, Junghans, and the Hamburg American Clock Company (which copied American-made clocks for sales in Germany) are among the most collectible. Typically, the antique market also injects life into sales of newly manufactured collectibles because they are more affordable.
Even though some models of cuckoo clocks are now outfitted with quartz movements and electronics, part of the cuckoo clock’s charm may be its old-fashioned mechanical movement. When paired with beautifully carved wood and rustic style, the spell of the cuckoo’s song on the hour is guaranteed to bring smiles to those who prize childlike delights and exquisite craftsmanship. In my case a smile still comes to my face when I remember my aunt’s cuckoo clock adorning the wall of her kitchen.
Happy decorating,
From Al & Toula
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