You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.

Ben Franklin's World is a production of Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios.

Everybody, I would say, in 1750, knew what time it was, and they needed to know what time it was.

You know, timekeeping already for a hundred years before that was becoming tyrannical almost in Western civilization. People

couldn't eat when they were hungry. They had to eat when the clock said 12 o'clock. They couldn't

wake up when the rooster crowed. They had to wake up when the clock rang six o'clock or five

o'clock. So everyone was tuned into what time it was. The most accurate time keepers were

sundials because they aren't wrong where clocks and watches can easily be wrong.

Hello and welcome to episode 402 of Ben Franklin's World.

The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people and events of our early

American past have shaped the present day world we live in.

And I'm your host, Liz Covert.

Do you know what time it is?

In early America, this question wasn't as simple to

answer as it is today. Urban dwellers in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston

often wondered about the time, but few owned watches or clocks. So how did early Americans

keep track of the hours? In this episode, we're diving into the fascinating world of early American

timekeeping. Bob Frischman, an urologist, a specialist in clocks and watches, joins us to

explore how timepieces and their makers shaped community life and craftsmanship in the 18th century.

Along the way, we'll uncover the remarkable story of Edward Duffield, a Philadelphia

clockmaker who wasn't just a master craftsman, but he was also a close friend and neighbor

of Benjamin Franklin. Now, during our investigation, Bob reveals information about early

...