And then they stopped, at 11:00 in the morning, one century ago. They stopped, on schedule. It wasn’t that they’d gotten tired or come to their senses. Both before and after 11 o’clock they were simply following orders. The Armistice agreement that ended World War I had set 11 o’clock as quitting time.
Do you find it odd that we only spend four months on Standard Time and eight months on daylight saving time? What a con. No daylight is saved. The idea behind the changing of time was to save energy, but it doesn't. In fact DST seems to use more energy. Matthew Kotchen, a Yale economist, found a 1 percent increase in electricity use after Indiana introduced daylight saving statewide in 2006, estimating a cost of $9 million per year for consumers. No, it is about shopping...more shopping hours. Extra daylight means extra time to spend money. And if you’re in the United States, you’re probably going to get in your car to go spend that money. “Americans really do leave their homes when there is more sunlight at the end of the day,” said Michael Downing. “We go to the parks, and we go to the mall, but we don’t walk there,” he said. “Daylight saving increases gasoline consumption.” No one is more aware of that than gas stations, which is why the Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing, a lobbying group for convenience stores, has pushed to start daylight saving time earlier in the year. This 1917 poster declares victory...a victory for capitalism and retailers.
