At turn-back time you get an extra hour - even though it is only paying back the one that was stolen in September. Photo / Warren Buckland
At turn-back time you get an extra hour - even though it is only paying back the one that was stolen in September. Photo / Warren Buckland
The first thing I would like to say about daylight saving is that there is no "s" on the end of the word "saving".
It is "daylight saving time", and those who call it "daylight savings" are possibly confusing it with some sort of bank account (though I probably wouldnot trust them with my money).
Whatever the reason, let's stop misnaming it.
Maybe the add-an-s malaise is linked to people's insistence on adding an "s" to business names. Within walking distance of where I live, there are at least five venues to which many people insist on adding a gratuitous "s".
To cite just one example, a (fictional) Mexican restaurant called Tortilla becomes Tortilla's. Or would it be Tortillas? Who knows?
So now that's out of the way, let's concentrate on the real issues of daylight saving such as when and how it started. Someone must once have had the audacity to think they could rearrange time for our convenience.
Well, according to my (as usual) very limited research, it started in Thunder Bay, Canada, in 1908. Someone, embarrassed no doubt by the traditional and tedious associations of Canada with maple syrup, must have put their foot down and said, "We need a new image". So they invented artificial maple syrup.
That didn't go down at all well, so someone said, "Let's fiddle with time". And so they did. They decided to fade their curtains by allowing there to be more daylight.
At certain times of the year, they would put their curtains outside in the direct sunlight and soon the idea spread to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Faded curtains became a localised fad.
But it was not until 1916 that DST was popularised by whole countries (Germany and Austria) because, by fading their curtains, they could minimise the use of artificial light and save fuel for the war effort.
Then, of course, someone invented pre-faded curtains, an early precursor to pre-faded, pre-ruined/distressed jeans. It was only a short step from there to complete nudity but that failed to catch on because of the harsh winters in these countries.
New Zealand introduced DST in 1927 though the observance dates and times have been changed a few times over the years. But December 25 was set in concrete as the date to celebrate Christmas Day. And hot cross buns are still a moveable feast.
Now we observe DST from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April (subject to Covid restrictions) and everybody's happy. Or are they?
I'm never happy, for example, with the last few weeks of the time change because, if we want to get to work on time, we need to get up in the dark. It feels too much like the depths of winter.
Another issue people get ticked off about is the confusion caused during international travel. DST is now used in more than 70 countries worldwide. The beginning and end dates vary from country to country so, depending on your destination and the dateline, you can arrive before you left or end up having two in-flight breakfasts but no sleep. It's time travel made easy.
Let's not grumble too much as there are also positives. At turn-back time you get an extra hour – even though it is only paying back the one that was stolen in September – so you can do an hour of something worthwhile. You could spend it turning back all the non-digital clocks in the house, for example.
