Have you ever walked into a house and heard majestical musical notes in the background? You ask yourself where they are coming from. Then you realize that the musical interlude might be coming from none other than a grandfather clock.

Kind of an unusual name for a clock. Where did they originate? How was the name devised?

People have always searched for ways to keep track of time, and have tried to improve on methods to accurately keep time. Until the advent of mechanical clocks in medieval Europe, the methods to track time include sundials, also called shadow clocks, the hourglass, water powered devices called clepsydras, and candles.

The first mechanical clocks were developed during the second half of the 13^th century, most likely by European monks. These clocks were made of heavy iron frames and gears, and did not have any dials or arms. They were often placed in the church tower and only struck bells on the hour by using the existing church bell. Later, an hour hand was added to the mechanical clocks, and other enhancements were devised allowing the clock to strike every quarter hour. By the 15^th century, small domestic clocks had been made. After the 1630s, a weight-driven timepiece called the lantern clock became popular in some homes of upper class families.

But it was Galileo who conceived of the major breakthrough in clock making. In 1582 he discovered that a pendulum could be used to keep time. In 1656 the Dutch scientist Huygens developed the first pendulum clock. The clock became the prototype for the modern grandfather clock. The first pendulum clocks were referred to as "wags-on-the-wall" at the time, had short pendulums and were hung on a wall. These clocks were often encased in wood, such as grandfather clocks of today. Clocks devised by the invention of Huygens were so accurate that often there was only a loss or gain of a few minutes a day.

By 1660 English clockmakers took Huygens’ design and introduced clocks with 6 feet long cases and ten-inch pendulums. In 1670, with the use of a pendulum that was slightly over 39 inches, now called the Royal Pendulum, Robert Hook and William Clement created the grandfather clock. It measured over 7 feet from the floor. Handles for the minutes were soon added. Clocks became encased with glass to show the pendulum and weights. These clocks, now called grandfather clocks, were called long case clocks, or floor clocks, until the 1880s.

The golden age of long case clocks was between 1630 and 1730, and they were first made for royal families and nobles. However, production costs were cut down, and by 1685 long case clocks were imported into the American colonies.

The term "grandfather clock" for long case or floor clocks became widespread in England and America thanks to a song composed by Henry Work in 1875. Work, an American songwriter, composed "Grandfather’s Clock", about an old floor clock that stood in the lobby of the George Hotel in Piercebridge, North Yorkshire, England. The name stuck.

There have been many improvements on keeping time, including ones to pendulums. However, nothing seems to replace the stately appearance of a grandfather clock that stands between 6 ½ feet – 8 feet tall. They are an object of beauty, and an impressive symbol of the passage of time.

Naturally, collectors are aware of how well old grandfather clocks are. The vintage clocks are very collectible, despite sometimes the costly shipping charges.

A few examples of auction sales of grandfather clocks include the following:

In 2014 a George II Quarter-Striking Tall Case Clock sold for $17,500. However, a Tiffany grandfather clock with a 9-bell, Westminster and Whittington melody, sold for $50,000, while an extremely ornate figural carved oak 9 Tube grandfather clock sold for $80,000.

So it is very clear that the value of grandfather clocks can run the spectrum, often depending on how ornate they are.