THE TWELVE HOURS OF UNIVERSAL NIGHT
Leister Helmer, Wisconsinite inventor of the Universal Night Clock (patented 1954), rejected the standard observation of February 29th taking place every four years, denouncing it as a “depraved and uncreative use of man’s most hard-won resource.” In its place, he personally observed an undated set of twelve extra hours every two years, which he accounted for by skipping the rolling of AM and PM on his handcrafted clock once every 730 days. Because of the clock’s duodecimal nature, this allowed for its continuous use without adjustment despite such an extreme departure from timekeeping norms. Helmer also refused to observe Daylight Savings, referring to it in his journal as a “coward’s compromise," and "man bargaining for time and light he is already owed by the gods.”
The thirteen-foot oaken mechanism displays five concentric wreaths bound by a brass bezel, beginning with "ante meridiem" and "post meridiem" most outwardly, then the twelve hours in Roman numerals, the twelve Zodiac (with markers outlining the thirty-six decans), the months of the year, and the days of the week. Whenever the hour hand strikes twelves, the whole AM/PM wheel swings 180 degrees, with the exception of the two-year milestone at the end of January 19th, which he saw as a better suited date to mark his act of horological rebellion.
In Helmer’s vision, this uncounted period ought to be “a festival for all men, to cleave time back from Saturn however they see fit. In all dimensions but his domain, we have authority to move freely; so let us use our ingenuity to take the errors in the orrery of wandering stars for our own joy. A clockmaker does not serve the planets; he serves all who live with his craft. Why would I make another day for our labors, when I can wrest forth instead a sabbath for all?"
Despite Helmer's passionate revolt, outside a handful of music festivals in his honor in the 1970s, the Twelve Hours of Universal Night have largely remained unobserved. While some say he passed away in 1963, others believe he's simply behind the rest of humanity, eternally unable to reach the present by his own calendar. The Universal Night Clock remains in the curio collection of the famous House on the Rock, where it is displayed once every two years on January 19th.