
LONG before subway “countdown clocks” that foretold, with varying amounts of accuracy, when the next train would appear, these simply designed analog clocks, here seen at Fordham Road in 2016, were ubiquitous on subway stations all over town. Their simple design got the job done for people who weren’t wearing watches, which were few in number when the clocks first appeared in the swinging Sixties (these days, watches are more luxury or jewelry items than practical, as pocket IPhones and Androids display the time).
For many years, I never wore a watch. In the 1990s, I happened on a Mickey Mouse watch on Sanford Avenue in Flushing and used that for a few years, and then another watch, the make I forget. I also disdained wireless phones for years because I despised the people who yelled into them on buses and trains. I finally relented and acquired a flip phone, which did the trick for a few years; it’s still in a drawer as a spare. My first IPhone I sprung for in 2015, an IPhone 6. I was sent an IPhone 7 as a gift from a fan, which served for several years; I finally purchased a 13, and now have a 15. Thank G more people text these says instead of yelling, though they still exist.
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5/13/25
9 comments
Large public clocks like in Penn station,etc. always seemed to be
Bulovas back then.
I’ll tell you what never caught on,it was those snobby Movados that
thought they were too cool for numerals on their faces.Try and find
one on someone’s wrist today,I dare ya.Another fad from the Suckin’
70s that went out with Earth Shoes and pet rocks
A Cartier “tank” with no numerals will set you back a cool $3,000.
I’m happy with my Timex wristwatch. Not worth stealing !
I have a Movado that I got as a gift about 15 years ago. I keep reminding myself to get the battery replaced but never seem to get around to it.
We recently lost ours at the 86th street 1 staition.
Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?
You should have included this:
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=youTube%2fChicago%2f+Does+anyone+know&refig=19881014b57e4fc1bdb6067254a05b21&mkt=en-us&ocid=&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dyouTube%252FChicago%252F%2bDoes%2banyone%2bknow%26form%3dMSNSB1%26refig%3d19881014b57e4fc1bdb6067254a05b21%26mkt%3den-us%26ocid%3d&mmscn=vwrc&mid=CC6A774646447412E65ECC6A774646447412E65E&FORM=WRVORC&ntb=1&msockid=5a750db1326c11f0b55172edf875ba59
Why were these clocks removed? Too costly to maintain? Were they vandalized? Or did they simply graphically remind
subway riders how long they were waiting for their trains?
I recall it took 1-2 weeks for these to be manually adjusted for daylight / standard time changes.