Nobody was really sure what time it was on this day in 1918. It was the beginning of “daylight savings time.”

Federal law stated that at 2 A.M. on April first, everyone needed to set their clocks ahead one hour. It was a plan enacted to extend daylight an hour later during summer evenings, giving farmers an extra hour of work time during their growing season. Many were skeptical.

The Rutland Herald speculated that the time change would adversely affect railroad scheduling, and went on to say: “just how Rutland - and the rest of the country - is going to lose the hour of time...is puzzling more than a few residents.”

Image courtesy the Vermont Historical Society.