People alive before the snooze button- how did you get out bed??!

[Ohiogirl81]

This is a history topic?



Actually, it's a pretty simple concept: Wind clock. Set alarm. Go to sleep. Alarm rings. Alarm rings until you get up and turn it off.

Now that you know the secrets of the universe, you'll set for life.

[otowi]

I don't use the snooze button. I just get up.

[Ghengis]

whyyy back in my day you didn't need no stinkin' snooze button! when it was time to get up, you got up, right away, cuz you had to get ready to fight commies! if there was just a bit of hesitation, you punched yourself right in the mouth...there's your snooze button soldier!

[texdav]

For some reason thru out my life I have always awoke before the alarm. Perhaps its hating being awoken by a alarm. I was only late for work one time in my career and they waited a hour telling me they were sure I'd call or show up any minute.

[GiGi603]

Originally Posted by Utopian Slums

I saw one of the first episodes of Mad Men set in 1960 or 1961 and there was one scene were the alarm clock went off and the housewife flung her arms in the air and propelled her whole body to sit up in bed. Then the camera just focused on her in this sitting position for a beat.

I did that before the snooze alarm was invented!

Originally Posted by Retriever

Not only is the snooze button a really bad idea (IMHO), but I also believe that it only serves as an excuse for lazy people.

Are you serious?? I am far from a lazy person.
As much as I try to get to bed early, life gets in the way. I think you assume everyone has this perfect life schedule. I get up at 2:45am-3am for work. It can be difficult going to bed around 7:30pm with "regular people" outside especially during the Summer...lawn mowers, children playing, the phone ringing, people knocking on my door because they think it is still "early". Then trying to be a regular person on my days off so I can be social. It is okay---I choose my life, so damn it, I love my snooze alarm to give me a change to slowly let my body know it has to get vertical in a few minutes! (And since I spend my eight hours at work being vertical I am going to embrace my last few minutes of being horizontal!)

[ca_north]

Originally Posted by Utopian Slums

I saw one of the first episodes of Mad Men set in 1960 or 1961 and there was one scene were the alarm clock went off and the housewife flung her arms in the air and propelled her whole body to sit up in bed. Then the camera just focused on her in this sitting position for a beat.

This didn't seem essential to the plot or her character so I'm wondering if it was just to set the stage of the era. I've never seen anyone just "pop" out of bed like this. Most at least ease themselves *a little bit * even if they don't use snooze.

So how did the older posters here, especially in city and suburbs with no roosters, do it back then? Fling yourself up then get out of bed immediately? If not, did you ever fall back to sleep and miss work?

I NEED to know!!

I never thought to ask my elderly grandparents who are now dead but always used snooze. OR they used the expression "they rolled over" to mean someone didn't get out of bed when then should have and instead went back to sleep. I always hated that expression because I never really "rolled over" if i fell back to sleep but I'm wondering if it has a historical context.

Oh- and they would also say "I'm just resting my eyes" like taking a nap was a sin or something! ?


Thanks!

Interesting question, but I think the answer is simple: When you KNOW you only have one shot at it, you just do something, out of fear of forgetting.

Then again, some may have cheated by simply resetting the alarm/time. Or having more than one alarm clock.

[43north87west]

They probably had more than one alarm clock.

[OhioJB]

Don't recall ever using the snooze button, but may have at some point in my life on rare occasions. Thank goodness for alarm clocks though. When I was in the military working rotating shifts, I'd sometimes have to work a day watch, then later that day go back for a night watch. Later that set of shifts I'd get off early in the morning from a night watch then have to work an evening watch. There were times I definitely needed the alarm clock. But the three days off we received after our string of shifts was nice to have.

Key for me is getting to bed at a decent time so I have no trouble getting up.

[nightbird47]

I'm a night owl. Now that I don't have a schedule, I go to sleep when I get sleepy. Usually its when I realize I better get there or I'll fall asleep in front of the computer. And I wake up when I wake up. I never got enough sleep when I tried to impose some time on my brain. When I was in school, I'd have the raido which played on some station I didn't like the choice of songs since it would annoy me. And the raido would be across the room but with things in the way I had to move out of the way before I could kill the thing. If I could sleep walk there and back I'd have woken up at noon.

Now and then that didn't work. One time I had this dream going on, and I was at school, college, and bells kept ringing like it was jr hi. They kept getting louder and louder and I discovered I could turn them off. But they kept coming on over and over.

Then I woke up. It was 11:30. The alarm had been shut off, and climbed over to do that without waking up. I guess I felt guilty about not getting up, but I wiped out the whole morning.

I've never been able to follow a schedule well and my clock seems to be more like a 26 or 27 hour clock. I find when I dont have to get up with the brain is not in awake mode, I do much better with everything.

[Old Gringo]

The alarm went off and I'd get up.

Nothing could be simpler.

Those who make their lives complicated do so as a personal choice.