July 24, 2026 • 9 mins
Lots of folks, including a majority in Congress, want to see year round daylight saving time. But it actually has been tried before. The results were not what you’d expect.
Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . on Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So everybody's been talking about the idea of keeping daylight
Saving time a year round thing. Congress recently voted to
end the twice yearly time show. Think about it, None
of that gazing out the window at four point thirty
in the afternoon on a January day and seeing nothing
but darkness. Yay, great idea, stop messing with the clocks.
(00:22):
But hold on there, it's not that easy. I'm Patty Steele.
Over fifty years ago there was an attempt to stop
changing the clocks. It ended in disaster. That's next on
the backstory. The backstory is back. Okay. Imagine waking up
on a cold January morning. You look out the window.
(00:45):
It's eight o'clock, but outside it looks like the middle
of the night. Folks have lights on in their houses,
the streets are dark, street lights are on, and kids
are waiting for school buses under those street lights. Parents
are nervous. Drivers are heading to work in total darkness.
The thing is, in some places the sun won't come
(01:06):
up for another hour or more, and across America, people
are asking the same question, why the hell did we
do this? Okay, this is not a scene from some
dystopian movie. It's America in early nineteen seventy four. The
scene is the result of one of the most ambitious
attempts in American history to get rid of it twice
(01:27):
a year ritual, the changing of the clocks, you know,
spring forward, fall behind. The story begins in the fall
of nineteen seventy three. America's in crisis. We're dealing with
an energy emergency. Thanks to the Arab oil embargo. Oil
prices are through the roof, Gasoline is becoming more expensive,
(01:49):
and at the same time, Americans are waiting in long
lines at gas stations. The end of cheap, unlimited energy
suddenly seems to be over the This is so serious
that President Richard Nixon signs legislation aimed at trying to
conserve energy. One of the ideas seems pretty simple. Keep
(02:09):
daylight saving time in effect all year long. Sure, pretty logical.
More daylight in the afternoon will keep lights off for
an extra hour during peak usage time. If the sun
staves up later according to the clock, we might use
less electricity to light up our world in the evening.
More daylight after work, less time turning on lights, and
(02:32):
that means potentially less energy consumption. Well, the idea wasn't
exactly new. It had been discussed before. In fact, daylight
saving time was used during both World Wars to conserve
the energy. But now in the middle of an energy crisis,
it would become a national experiment for non wartime America.
(02:54):
So in December of nineteen seventy three, Congress passes the
Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act. That's a mouthful.
The plan is unusual. Instead of turning the clocks back
in the fall, Americans would simply leave them where they were. Yay,
No extra hour of darkness arriving in November, no return
(03:15):
to standard time. Daylight saving time would continue through the winter,
So on January sixth, nineteen seventy four, the experiment officially begins.
At first, the idea is pretty popular, since people are
worried about gasoline. They're being told the sacrifice is going
to help the country get through an emergency. So folks
(03:36):
for the most part said fine, They're not thinking too
much about it. But then the clocks change and reality
sets in. In cities like Detroit, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Seattle,
sunrise doesn't arrive until around nine am. Everybody wakes up
in the dark, and goes to work and to school
(03:56):
in the dark. Hooks are downred confused. That confusion means
commuter trains and buses are delayed. A lot of kids
miss their free breakfasts at school. Plus parents worry about
traffic and visibility, and city folks headed to subways and
buses in the dark are a little scared as they
start their day and hour earlier in a kind of
(04:18):
spooky darkness, and the fear grows after a sixteen year
old Chicago boys hit and killed on his way to school.
Other kids are killed in pre dawn accidents in Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana, Pennsylvania,
and California. In Florida, eight kids are killed in the
first weeks of winter daylight saving time, compared with two
(04:39):
a year earlier. Farm families described kids waiting on dark
country roads for buses as cars are whizzing by, while
in cities parents also worry about kids walking through dark
streets before sunrise. Parents are putting reflective stickers on their
kid's coats, and in some cases, entire school systems delay
(05:00):
their start time. Public opinion does an almost mediate about face.
One survey shows support for year round daylight saving time
has dropped from seventy nine percent in December to forty
two percent by February. It was supposed to be a
two year trial. This is one of the strange things
about daylight saving time. People often talk about wanting more daylight,
(05:25):
but the real question is when do you want it.
Permanent daylight saving time gives you more light in the evening,
but it takes that hour from the morning. In the summer,
a lot of people love that trade off. In the winter,
especially in the Northern States, the trade off can feel
very different, so at the end of the day literally,
(05:46):
the debate quickly turns emotional. Some people think the darkness
creates safety problems, and others claim the energy savings aren't
big enough to justify the inconvenience. Plus there's the political problem.
The public was told that permanent daylight saving time would
save energy, but no one can argue with those dark mornings.
(06:07):
By the end of winter nineteen seventy four, the issue
is so unpopular Congress begins reconsidering the law. The two
year experiment had lasted only a few months. The nation
had tried to change time itself, and Americans demand it.
They change it back in October nineteen seventy four, Congress
repealed permanent daylight saving time, and the country went back
(06:31):
to the familiar system. Change the clocks in the spring,
change them back in the fall. The Great American experiment
with permanent daylight saving time was over until now. Now.
The irony is the argument never really disappeared. For decades,
Americans continue to complain about changing the clocks two times
(06:52):
a year. Why can't we just pick one time and
stay there. Some people wanted permanent daylight saving time, others
wanted permanent standard time, and a lot of folks just
wanted the clock changing to end without considering the impact.
The thing is, the nineteen seventies experiment taught us an
important lesson ending the clock change doesn't solve the daylight problem.
(07:17):
It only changes where the daylight goes. If you choose
permanent daylight saving time, you get later sunsets but darker
winter mornings. If you choose permanent standard time, you get
brighter winter mornings but earlier sunsets. In the afternoon, the
sun cannot create an extra hour. It just forces us
(07:38):
to decide where to put it. And that's why the
nineteen seventy three experiment is still so fascinating. It wasn't
just about clocks. It was about the government trying to
solve a crisis with a simple idea, and so less
than a year after the experiment began, America changed its mind.
The clocks went back. The never changed at all, and
(08:02):
that's the strangest part of the entire story. For more
than fifty years, Americans have continued to argue about the
same question. Should we stop changing the clocks? We tried
once before, But the last time America attempted to make
daylight saving time permanent, the experiment ended with a basic
lesson that's still relevant today. You can change the clocks,
(08:27):
but you can't negotiate with the sun. So what do
you think? I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele.
Please leave a review. I would love it if you
would subscribe or follow for free to get new episodes
delivered automatically. Also feel free to DM me if you
have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
(08:58):
Patty Steele. Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,
the Elvis Durant Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Mike Pieseglia. Our writer is Jake Kushner. New episodes
are out every Tuesday and Friday, and feel free to
reach out to me with comments and story suggestions on
Instagram at Reel Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
(09:21):
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
So everybody's been talking about the idea of keeping daylight
Saving time a year round thing. Congress recently voted to
end the twice yearly time show. Think about it, None
of that gazing out the window at four point thirty
in the afternoon on a January day and seeing nothing
but darkness. Yay, great idea, stop messing with the clocks.
(00:22):
But hold on there, it's not that easy. I'm Patty Steele.
Over fifty years ago there was an attempt to stop
changing the clocks. It ended in disaster. That's next on
the backstory. The backstory is back. Okay. Imagine waking up
on a cold January morning. You look out the window.
(00:45):
It's eight o'clock, but outside it looks like the middle
of the night. Folks have lights on in their houses,
the streets are dark, street lights are on, and kids
are waiting for school buses under those street lights. Parents
are nervous. Drivers are heading to work in total darkness.
The thing is, in some places the sun won't come
(01:06):
up for another hour or more, and across America, people
are asking the same question, why the hell did we
do this? Okay, this is not a scene from some
dystopian movie. It's America in early nineteen seventy four. The
scene is the result of one of the most ambitious
attempts in American history to get rid of it twice
(01:27):
a year ritual, the changing of the clocks, you know,
spring forward, fall behind. The story begins in the fall
of nineteen seventy three. America's in crisis. We're dealing with
an energy emergency. Thanks to the Arab oil embargo. Oil
prices are through the roof, Gasoline is becoming more expensive,
(01:49):
and at the same time, Americans are waiting in long
lines at gas stations. The end of cheap, unlimited energy
suddenly seems to be over the This is so serious
that President Richard Nixon signs legislation aimed at trying to
conserve energy. One of the ideas seems pretty simple. Keep
(02:09):
daylight saving time in effect all year long. Sure, pretty logical.
More daylight in the afternoon will keep lights off for
an extra hour during peak usage time. If the sun
staves up later according to the clock, we might use
less electricity to light up our world in the evening.
More daylight after work, less time turning on lights, and
(02:32):
that means potentially less energy consumption. Well, the idea wasn't
exactly new. It had been discussed before. In fact, daylight
saving time was used during both World Wars to conserve
the energy. But now in the middle of an energy crisis,
it would become a national experiment for non wartime America.
(02:54):
So in December of nineteen seventy three, Congress passes the
Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act. That's a mouthful.
The plan is unusual. Instead of turning the clocks back
in the fall, Americans would simply leave them where they were. Yay,
No extra hour of darkness arriving in November, no return
(03:15):
to standard time. Daylight saving time would continue through the winter,
So on January sixth, nineteen seventy four, the experiment officially begins.
At first, the idea is pretty popular, since people are
worried about gasoline. They're being told the sacrifice is going
to help the country get through an emergency. So folks
(03:36):
for the most part said fine, They're not thinking too
much about it. But then the clocks change and reality
sets in. In cities like Detroit, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Seattle,
sunrise doesn't arrive until around nine am. Everybody wakes up
in the dark, and goes to work and to school
(03:56):
in the dark. Hooks are downred confused. That confusion means
commuter trains and buses are delayed. A lot of kids
miss their free breakfasts at school. Plus parents worry about
traffic and visibility, and city folks headed to subways and
buses in the dark are a little scared as they
start their day and hour earlier in a kind of
(04:18):
spooky darkness, and the fear grows after a sixteen year
old Chicago boys hit and killed on his way to school.
Other kids are killed in pre dawn accidents in Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana, Pennsylvania,
and California. In Florida, eight kids are killed in the
first weeks of winter daylight saving time, compared with two
(04:39):
a year earlier. Farm families described kids waiting on dark
country roads for buses as cars are whizzing by, while
in cities parents also worry about kids walking through dark
streets before sunrise. Parents are putting reflective stickers on their
kid's coats, and in some cases, entire school systems delay
(05:00):
their start time. Public opinion does an almost mediate about face.
One survey shows support for year round daylight saving time
has dropped from seventy nine percent in December to forty
two percent by February. It was supposed to be a
two year trial. This is one of the strange things
about daylight saving time. People often talk about wanting more daylight,
(05:25):
but the real question is when do you want it.
Permanent daylight saving time gives you more light in the evening,
but it takes that hour from the morning. In the summer,
a lot of people love that trade off. In the winter,
especially in the Northern States, the trade off can feel
very different, so at the end of the day literally,
(05:46):
the debate quickly turns emotional. Some people think the darkness
creates safety problems, and others claim the energy savings aren't
big enough to justify the inconvenience. Plus there's the political problem.
The public was told that permanent daylight saving time would
save energy, but no one can argue with those dark mornings.
(06:07):
By the end of winter nineteen seventy four, the issue
is so unpopular Congress begins reconsidering the law. The two
year experiment had lasted only a few months. The nation
had tried to change time itself, and Americans demand it.
They change it back in October nineteen seventy four, Congress
repealed permanent daylight saving time, and the country went back
(06:31):
to the familiar system. Change the clocks in the spring,
change them back in the fall. The Great American experiment
with permanent daylight saving time was over until now. Now.
The irony is the argument never really disappeared. For decades,
Americans continue to complain about changing the clocks two times
(06:52):
a year. Why can't we just pick one time and
stay there. Some people wanted permanent daylight saving time, others
wanted permanent standard time, and a lot of folks just
wanted the clock changing to end without considering the impact.
The thing is, the nineteen seventies experiment taught us an
important lesson ending the clock change doesn't solve the daylight problem.
(07:17):
It only changes where the daylight goes. If you choose
permanent daylight saving time, you get later sunsets but darker
winter mornings. If you choose permanent standard time, you get
brighter winter mornings but earlier sunsets. In the afternoon, the
sun cannot create an extra hour. It just forces us
(07:38):
to decide where to put it. And that's why the
nineteen seventy three experiment is still so fascinating. It wasn't
just about clocks. It was about the government trying to
solve a crisis with a simple idea, and so less
than a year after the experiment began, America changed its mind.
The clocks went back. The never changed at all, and
(08:02):
that's the strangest part of the entire story. For more
than fifty years, Americans have continued to argue about the
same question. Should we stop changing the clocks? We tried
once before, But the last time America attempted to make
daylight saving time permanent, the experiment ended with a basic
lesson that's still relevant today. You can change the clocks,
(08:27):
but you can't negotiate with the sun. So what do
you think? I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele.
Please leave a review. I would love it if you
would subscribe or follow for free to get new episodes
delivered automatically. Also feel free to DM me if you
have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
(08:58):
Patty Steele. Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,
the Elvis Durant Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Mike Pieseglia. Our writer is Jake Kushner. New episodes
are out every Tuesday and Friday, and feel free to
reach out to me with comments and story suggestions on
Instagram at Reel Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
(09:21):
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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