Temporary Exhibition
Upstairs in the attic you will find our temporary exhibition. We will hold various exhibitions here throughout the year. This will often concern current topics. In addition, this space will also be used for various activities.
INGENUITY
This summer, Museum Zaanse Tijd presents a representative and evocative selection of contemporary special timepieces; ranging from replicas of special historical timepieces to new inventions, physical miracles and almost impossible constructions.
For centuries, antique clocks were products of collaborations between groups of specialised craftsmen: clock technicians, cabinet makers, casters of ornaments, and painters.
Very different from the clocks in this room. Not only are they 21st century made, but each one was also built in its entirety by just one maker.
Modern day ‘do it yourself-builders’ like these have no intention of selling any clocks. Moreover, they want to take on a special technical challenge, and succeed. Some of them work on their clock for several years on end – resulting in just one single copy.
Does this sound like lonely, painstaking work? Not so. All builders are members of thriving Dutch clock makers’ communities 4th Dimension, Clockmakers group ’s-Hertogenbosch or Clockmakers group Eindhoven. They know each other well, and exchange valuable ideas and tips on a regular basis.
Featured: “Auntie Cor”
This is a timepiece made by F.W. Lark/Firma A. de Jong (ca. 1934). It was commissioned by the PTT (former Dutch Postage, Telephone and Telegraph Company) and it is better known as the telephone time indicator “Auntie Cor”. Optical audio tapes reproduce a human voice which, by dialing 393131, indicates the time after the beep. The reading head with photocell moves as a result of impulses from the master clock. “Auntie Cor” was the lady who’s voice was recorded and could be heard until 1968.
