By Lisa Hix — The term "robot" was coined in the 1920s, so it's tempting to think of the robot as a relatively recent phenomenon, less than 100 years old. After all, how could we bring metal men to life before we could harness electricity and program computers? But the truth is, robots are thousands of years old. The first records of automata, or self-operating machines that give the illusion of being alive, go back to ancient Greece and China. While it's true none of these ancient androids could pass...

Not Your Grandma’s Cuckoo: Decapitating, Rat-Eating Clocks of the Black Forest

By Hunter Oatman-Stanford — Cuckoo clock clichés are hard to avoid: Say the word "cuckoo" and people instantly picture kitschy dark-wood relics hanging in the homes of aging relatives. Justin Miller is painfully aware of this stereotype, but his fascination with primitive cuckoo technology long ago spread to the more obscure history of Black Forest clocks. Miller’s interest in the clock-making region of southwestern Germany began innocuously enough with a childhood gift from his grandfather, whom he actually called...

The Care and Repair of 19th-Century American Clocks

By Maribeth Keane and Jessica Lewis — I was working as a jewelry department manager for a department store, and I had a customer who brought a clock in for repair. I was able to fix her clock very quickly and easily, and I didn’t charge her anything. It turned out she had a huge collection, and she asked me to see the rest of them. She had these amazing 18th-century bracket clocks and 18th-century tall-case clocks. She had a gorgeous skeleton clock and even an Atmos clock. So that planted the seed, but it was many years later...

The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and Baby Bens

By Dave Margulius — How did I get interested in clocks? Something about them has always been ingrained in me. My mom’s father had a small collection of antique clocks and when I was a little boy he showed me how to wind them and regulate them. When I was eight we moved to a new house and my mom and I were looking in the attic and found an old octagon wall clock made by Waterbury, probably dated about 1880. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed...