Sheet music, 1921 Courtesy of NMAH Archives Center, DeVincent Collection

People awoke not with the rising of the sun, but with the rude, mechanical jangling of an alarm clock at their bedsides. The clock, rather than the sun or any rhythms of nature or body, determined the patterns of life and work. People traveled to and from jobs and school, ate their meals, and went to bed in accordance with what the clock said.