Daylight Saving Time

I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of Daylight Saving Time.

DST was practiced in various forms in ancient times going back at least as far as the Romans.


Ben Franklin was not the inventor of DST as many have come to believe, he only wrote about it in a satire while he was in France suggesting if the French got up an hour earlier they would save on candles.


The form it takes today was first proposed in 1907 by an Englishman named William Willett. He was a builder of fine homes and he liked to golf. He wanted more sunlight in the afternoons for his activities. He wrote a pamphlet called "The Waste of Daylight" and tried several times to get parliament to pass a bill, but was unsuccessful. However, with the outbreak of World War I, and the need to reduce the use of coal, DST became a law on May 21, 1916. Willett never got to see his idea in action as he died of the flu in 1915. He was a mere 58 years old.

When the United States entered the war in 1917 congress passed the first DST bill but it was repealed after the war.

It has been difficult to determine if DST actually saves energy. Initial studies suggest it doesn't save much, if anything, and in some areas may actually increase usage.

The controversy over DST has swung back and forth. It is still controversial. On the one hand it helps retailing, sports and other outdoor activities, but hinders farmers and those people whose jobs are tied to the sun. It wasn't until 1966 that it became standardized.

And it hasn't ended there. Clorox, the parent company of Kingsford Charcoal and 7-Eleven pushed for extending DST back in 1987. In 2005 the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and the National Association of Convenience Stores successfully lobbied (read that as spent a lot of money on politicians) for the current extension which was started in 2007.

For me, the only good thing about DST, is that there is now a one hour difference between my sister and me instead of the normal two, which makes it easier to call her at most any time. Other than that, they could chuck the whole system and I wouldn't miss it one little bit.