When their batteries are about to die, watches run erratically, slow down, and eventually make an instinctual journey to their final resting place beneath Big Ben. Learn more clocklore with today’s Groupon to the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia. Choose from the following options:
- For $8, you get two adult admissions (a $16 value).
- For $10, you get a family admission, including two adults and all children younger than 18 from a single household (a $20 value).
- For $15, you get four adult admissions (a $32 value).<p>
The National Watch & Clock Museum showcases 12,000 historic timepieces from America and abroad, a collection that has garnered praise from the New York Times. The museum’s permanent collection leads visitors through humanity’s history of harnessing the fourth dimension, beginning with nonmechanical devices. One of the museum’s star attractions is the 1,049-pound multitasking Engle clock, which tracks hour and calendar time, moon phases, and the tides. An eclectic array of figures, from Christian holy figures to Father Time, perform mechanical movements to mark temporal milestones. Current special exhibits include Found Time, which features the work of Randall Cleaver, who transforms found objects into whimsical timekeepers. Interactive displays for children are scattered throughout the museum, and keep little hands moving while spongy neurons soak up horological knowledge and the importance of the flux capacitor. As New York Times reporter Edward Rothstein states, “the museum is a powerful demonstration of the clock’s powers; and so much is here, it is worth seeing even if not all can be absorbed.”
National Watch & Clock Museum
Though it opened in 1977 with a small collection of timepieces, the National Watch & Clock Museum now houses more than 12,000 items, making it the largest collection of its kind in North America. Clocks, watches, and their associated tools reside in glass cases, lorded over by the monumental Engle Clock, an 11-foot-tall, 1,049-pound marvel of clock design whose 13th toll will signify when the giant lasagna being cooked in the earth's core is done. Hands-on exhibits scattered throughout the museum give kids the chance to wonder at turning gears and learn about intriguing time concepts. Current special exhibits include Enlisting Time, a collection of personal timepieces carried by soldiers over the last 250 years, featuring watches owned by George Washington and Ian Fleming.