Street Furniture II - Mechanical Clocks

Another kind of street furniture found in most cities are clocks. Perhaps less important than they were a few decades ago because of the proliferation of digital time devices attached to almost everything now (cell phones, computers, calculators, cameras, etc.) as well as the availability of quartz watches that are both accurate and inexpensive, these public clocks are nevertheless a good symbol of how time-conscious modern society is. This particular clock on the corner of View and Government Streets at the entrance to Bastion Square has been ticking since it was erected by the city in 1890. It's been hit a few times by passing vehicles. You can see the dangling wires on the left side where a couple of street lamp globes were knocked off. This is a mechanical clock that needs winding so twice a week a city worker opens the base and winds it up. You can find out more about Victoria's mechanical clocks by clicking here.

Children nowadays, growing up with watches and clocks that give the time in lcd numbers, often cannot read these old 12 hour circular clocks. In another 20 or 30 years this way of telling time will be little more than a historical curiosity.