I have an admission to make….I sort of hate this clock in Gastown. I realize that it seems a little illogical to hate a clock, but I have a couple of reasons.
1. This clock is a magnet for tourists who turn into five-minute-idiots waiting for the steam driven clock to go off
2. This clock is not actually steam driven
3. This non-steam-driven clock and all those five-minute-idiots stand between my office and my favourite shoe store
Since this photo was taken on a rainy February Thursday at 12:05, the hordes of five-minute-idiots were largely absent – intentional planning on my part.
The clock is located in historic Gastown and has always been promoted as an historic time peice, representative of the age of the area it sits in, but it’s not.
It was unveiled with fanfare to a crowd nattily dressed in the high fashion that the decade was known for; the clock was built in 1977.
It does produce steam, but it was actually placed here to cover an ugly steam vent that the city wanted to hide, so I guess it’s not a complete sham. But it’s still not an actual steam-driven clock; it’s electric. It did run on steam, for a little while, but then the steam driven motor broke because the steam rusted out the mechanism (around the mid 1980’s) and now it runs solely on two electric motors.
It’s just a clock that looks old, but isn’t. It’s faux-history….which, in today’s world of fake-news and alternative-facts, maybe just seems par for the course.
And did I mention that it’s between me and my shoe store….?
119 Photos in 2019 – 22. Clocks / Watches
12 comments
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The most famous clock in Vancouver! Paige
Happy weekend!
I love that clock.
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119 pictures in 2019
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/osborn] My relationship is love/hate, 🙂
Great street scene and photo of it
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119 pictures in 2019
They also added this photo to their favourites
a beautiful piece of art! Seen in
119 pictures in 2019
They also added this photo to their favourites
nice shot. what’s wrong with the clock?
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119 pictures in 2019
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizzardsdad] Nothing in and of itself, just that it is marketed as an historic steam clock when it is neither old nor steam driven.
I think it’s a super clock, even if it is fake!
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119 pictures in 2019
What a unique clock even if it is fake!
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119 pictures in 2019
Nice find for the theme.
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119 pictures in 2019
To be honest, if you have to post a pic of a clock/watch and you live close to Vancouver this is a must item, even if you don’t like it ;o)