How Did The Grandfather Clock Get Its Name?

In this episode, we’ll look at the history behind how the grandfather clock got its name — and it's probably not what you expect.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
It's Christian saga. Grandfather clock is a fitting name for
an object that's often treated as a family heirloom. But
even though it carries the ring of heritage and tradition,
the term itself is rather young. In fact, it's more
than two centuries newer than the time piece it designates.

(00:26):
When these vertically gifted clocks were first invented more than
three hundred and fifty years ago, people actually called them
long case clocks, a moniker that's still used in some circles,
even though it's less catchy today. We might still be
using that mundane term if it hadn't been for a
songwriter who's been nicknamed America's War poet. So how did

(00:50):
the term grandfather clock come about? Well? Henry clay Work
was a self taught musician and lyricist, and he first
made a name for himself during America's Civil War. One
of his later offerings was titled Grandfather's Clock. According to
his nephew, Bertram, Henry clay Work spent four years writing

(01:12):
this piece, which Root and Katie published in eighteen seventy six.
The Diddy tells the tale of a grandfather who received
a brand new long case clock on the day of
his birth. A lifetime later, the man and his time
piece enter the great Beyond together. Works last mega hit,
Grandfather's Clock emerged as an instant classic and an enduring one.

(01:34):
It sold more than eight hundred thousand copies in the
song made its author four thousand dollars richer. In latter decades.
It was covered by Johnny Cash, spoofed on a Prairie
Home Companion, and even remixed for the soundtrack of the
indie video game Five Nights at Freddie's Too. On top
of all of that, the Oxford English Dictionary credits this

(01:56):
song with popularizing the term grandfather Clock, and so works
song inspired a new nickname for a centuries old time piece.
But what was it that inspired the song itself? Two
theories are out there. The George Hotel of Pierce Bridge
in North Yorkshire, England claims that Grandfather's Clock was conceived

(02:20):
right in its lobby. Work once stayed there while traveling
through the U K in eight seventy four. After checking
in it said that he spotted a handsome long case
clock in the hotel's lobby. The hands seemed to be
jammed frozen in place at the eleven oh five mark.
Upon asking a staffer about this broken clock, he was
told that it belonged to the late Jenkins brothers, who

(02:43):
had once owned the hotel. Their clock work, learned, was
purchased on the day the older sibling was born. Supposedly,
it was the most reliable time piece a person could
ask for, But when one of the brothers died, the
clock slowed down. Then years later, when death took the
other sibling, its final tick rang out. According to legend,

(03:06):
it's been silent ever since. Alas this story is probably
just a bit of local folklore, then again, one Massachusetts
family offers a different explanation. The relatives of Work's wife,
Sarah Parker, believe that they possess the clock that begat
this iconic song. To hear, the Parkers tell it, the
songwriter took his cues from an old long case formally

(03:28):
owned by Sarah's grandfather. All these years later, this wooden
clock still belongs to the Parkers, and no, it doesn't
work either. Today's episode was written by Mark man Cini,
produced by Dylan Fagan, and for more on this and
other topics, please visit us at how stuff works dot com.