January brings the opportunity to take note of the passage of time with the end of an old year and the start of the new year. The clock strikes midnight and the year turns over. The modern home is likely to have digital clocks everywhere…on the kitchen range, the smart TV, the microwave, the computer and tablets, and the bedside nightstand. These clocks are lighted and silent. A trip through the May-Stringer House, however, will include the chance to look at timekeepers with beautifully decorated faces and sweeping dials. None of the several clocks in the house hang on the plaster walls. They are either shelf clocks or mantle clocks. A couple might be described as desk clocks. Someone in the family actually had the chore of winding each clock and of adjusting the dials if it was running slow. These clocks are not lighted and they are not silent. They tick and they tock. Although not all operational now, they have marked the passage of time for years with sound and movement. If you look closely, you will see that even the dollhouse on the second floor has a clock on the mantle.
