{"id":879,"date":"2014-03-10T11:00:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=879"},"modified":"2014-12-23T04:06:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T04:06:18","slug":"daylight-saving-time-hits-pittsburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/03\/10\/daylight-saving-time-hits-pittsburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Daylight Saving Time hits Pittsburg"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Pittsburg Press clipping from March 31, 1918, the year when DST was first introduced in the United States. <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Raymond <\/a>
Raymond Kasunick of Troy Hill has hard time coaxing kooky out of his nest an hour ahead of time, May 2, 1961 (The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

“Spring forward, fall back,” \u2014 that\u2019s a helpful trick to remember when you are wondering what to do with your watches and wall clocks when it\u2019s time to adjust to \u00a0Daylight Saving Time. If you rely on your smartphone or your laptop to keep track of time, you will not have to worry about manually adjusting the clocks, they will “spring forward” for you.<\/p>\n

Things were not always that easy. When Daylight Saving Time was first introduced in the U.S. in 1918, Pittsburg was \u2018h\u2019-less and television and smart gadgets were not around yet, so Pittsburgh newspapers obsessively reminded the city dwellers to shift the clock. There were front-page articles and a cartoon in The Pittsburg Press showing Pittsburghers on a promenade at Market Square with a headline, \u201cHOW DAYLIGHT SAVING HITS PITTSBURG TODAY!\u201d<\/p>\n

The sun is depicted smiling and, looking down on fashionably dressed Pittsburghers, it says, \u201cYes, more time to display their Easter toggery. And tomorrow more daylight for work!\u201d<\/p>\n

The article on the front page of the Sunday edition, on March 31, 1918, pointed out the historical significance of the change:<\/p>\n

“For the first time in 22 years, at 2 a.m. today, the master clock in the department of public safety\u00a0 building was regulated. The hands were put forward one hour to comply with the daylight saving law, which went into effect at that time. Twenty-two years ago the clock was found to be a few minutes \u2018off\u2019 and was regulated, and since that time no change has been made in it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A great many persons sat up until 2 a.m. today to set off their clocks forward at the official hour. But the majority simply turned their clocks forward before they went to bed at their usual retiring hour last night.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In the courthouse and all county offices, the clocks were turned forward when the employees left at noon. County Commissioner Myer made a little speech when the change was made in the commissioner\u2019s office.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, we hear some dissent, people argue that the concept of Daylight Savings Time does not make sense, but back in 1918, most folks supported it:<\/p>\n

“The unanimous approval given the observance of the law makes it an easy one to enforce. Everybody apparently sees the wisdom of securing an extra hour of daylight, especially as the war garden season is at hand.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

After World War I, the U.S. Congress repealed the Daylight Saving law. However certain cities and states kept observing the practice until President Roosevelt signed a year-round \u201cWar Time\u201d DST in 1942. It lasted until September 1945.<\/p>\n

From 1945 to 1966 there was no federal law regulating \u00a0Daylight Saving Time, so it was completely up to cities and states whether they wanted to adopt DST or drop it entirely. Mayor David L. Lawrence, for example, made Daylight Saving Time official in Pittsburgh in 1948 and even demonstrated how to move the clock\u2019s hands in a photo that appeared in The Pittsburgh Press a week before DST was to go into effect.<\/p>\n

Only in 1966, President Lyndon signed an act into law \u201cwhereby Daylight Saving Time begins on the last Sunday of April and ends on the last Sunday of October each year.\u201d President George H. W. Bush as part of the energy policy bill changed the DST law to say, \u201cBeginning 2007, Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, here comes the sun and the excited tweets, marveling at the fact that it\u2019s still light out. And in case you are still into candles, you are probably happy to save on your candle wax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Things were not always as easy as “spring forward, fall back.”<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesDaylight Saving Time hits Pittsburg<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[980,1215,1052],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/tumblr_n238ueSQXD1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C1360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1972,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/13\/record-flood-inundates-pittsburgh-in-1907\/","url_meta":{"origin":879,"position":0},"title":"Record flood inundates Pittsburgh in 1907","date":"March 13, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"When the flood of March 1907 deluged the city at the confluence of three rivers, Pittsburg was spelled without its h.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_mjjwxkZjj51rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1102,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/12\/30\/demolition-of-duquesne-gardens\/","url_meta":{"origin":879,"position":1},"title":"Demolition of Duquesne Gardens","date":"December 30, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It was demolished in 1956, the last remnants leveled by a concrete-filled safe that served as a wrecking ball.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tumblr_my4meuFnls1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C615&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2400,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/10\/19\/the-wabash-bridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":879,"position":2},"title":"The Wabash Bridge","date":"October 19, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The rail cars were from the Wabash-Pittsburg Terminal Railroad, an ill-fated venture by George Jay Gould to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/tumblr_mc3hybsuae1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C709&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1401,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/13\/the-pittsburgh-views-of-john-c-bragdon\/","url_meta":{"origin":879,"position":3},"title":"The Pittsburgh views of John C. Bragdon","date":"September 13, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Our limited knowledge of Pittsburgh\u2019s history leads us to believe the pictures were made sometime around 1900.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_mszbyuKelC1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6993,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/10\/13\/if-an-atomic-bomb-strikes-pittsburgh-you-can-still-eat-the-pumpernickel\/","url_meta":{"origin":879,"position":4},"title":"If an atomic bomb strikes Pittsburgh, you can still eat the pumpernickel","date":"October 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A series of stories in The Pittsburg Press sought to reassure folks worried about an attack","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Digs.20161013DigsAbomb003a.jpg?fit=1200%2C522&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9738,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2020\/01\/16\/one-hundred-years-ago-dry-january-was-the-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":879,"position":5},"title":"One hundred years ago, ‘dry January’ was the law","date":"January 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Those who partied on the eve of Prohibition were the non-drinkers.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Digs.20200116_Prohibition002.jpg?fit=1200%2C729&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4027,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions\/4027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}