Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Bogelbaum, and this is another classic
Speaker 1: episode from our erstwhile host, Christian Sagar. So it turns
Speaker 1: out the grandfather clocks weren't always called grandfather clocks, but
Speaker 1: a single song changed that. Here's the story, Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: it's Christian Sagar. Grandfather clock is a fitting name for
Speaker 1: an object that's often treated as a family heirloom. But
Speaker 1: even though it carries the ring of heritage and tradition,
Speaker 1: the term itself is rather young. In fact, it's more
Speaker 1: than two centuries newer than the time piece it designates.
Speaker 1: When these vertically gifted clocks were first invented more than
Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty years ago, people actually called them
Speaker 1: long case clocks, a moniker that's still used in some circles,
Speaker 1: even though it's less catchy today. We might still be
Speaker 1: using that mundane term if it hadn't been for a
Speaker 1: songwriter who's been nicknamed America's war poet. So how did
Speaker 1: the term grandfather clock come about? Well, Henry clay Work
Speaker 1: was a self taught musician and lyricist. He first made
Speaker 1: a name for himself during America's Civil War. One of
Speaker 1: his later offerings was titled Grandfather's Clock. According to his nephew,
Speaker 1: Bertram Henry clay, Work spent four years writing this piece,
Speaker 1: which Root and Katie published in eighteen seventy six. The
Speaker 1: did he tells the tale of a grandfather who received
Speaker 1: a brand new long case clock on the day of
Speaker 1: his birth. A lifetime later, the man and his time
Speaker 1: piece enter the great beyond together. Works last mega hit,
Speaker 1: Grandfather's Clock, emerged as an instant classic and an enduring one.
Speaker 1: It sold more than eight hundred thousand copies in the
Speaker 1: song made its author four thousand dollars richer in latter
Speaker 1: deck gads. It was covered by Johnny Cash, spoofed on
Speaker 1: a Prairie Home Companion, and even remixed for the soundtrack
Speaker 1: of the indie video game Five Nights at Freddy's Too.
Speaker 1: On top of all of that, the Oxford English Dictionary
Speaker 1: credits this song with popularizing the term grandfather Clock, and
Speaker 1: so works song inspired a new nickname for a centuries
Speaker 1: old time piece. But what was it that inspired the
Speaker 1: song itself? Two theories are out there. The George Hotel
Speaker 1: of pierce Bridge in North Yorkshire, England, claims that Grandfather's
Speaker 1: clock was conceived right in its lobby. Work once stayed
Speaker 1: there while traveling through the UK in eight seventy four.
Speaker 1: After checking in it said that he spotted a handsome
Speaker 1: long case clock in the hotel's lobby. The hands seemed
Speaker 1: to be jammed frozen in place at the eleven oh
Speaker 1: five mark. Upon asking a staffer about this broken clock,
Speaker 1: he was told that it belonged to the late Jenkin brothers,
Speaker 1: who had once owned the hotel. Their clock work learned
Speaker 1: was purchased on the day the older sibling was born. Supposedly,
Speaker 1: it was the most reliable time piece a person could
Speaker 1: ask for, but when one of the brothers died, the
Speaker 1: clock slowed down. Then years later, when death took the
Speaker 1: other sibling, its final tick rang out. According to legend,
Speaker 1: it's been silent ever since. Alas this story is probably
Speaker 1: just a bit of local folklore, then again, one Massachusetts
Speaker 1: family offers a different explanation. The relatives of Work's wife,
Speaker 1: Sarah Parker, believe that they possessed the clock that begat
Speaker 1: this iconic song to hear. The Parkers tell it, the
Speaker 1: songwriter took his cues from an old long case formally
Speaker 1: owned by Sarah's grandfather. All these years later, this wooden
Speaker 1: clock still belongs to the Parkers, and no, it doesn't
Speaker 1: work either. Today's episode was written by Mark Fancini and
Speaker 1: produced by Dylan Fagan and Tyler Clang. For more in
Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, visit how stuff Works
Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For
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