People alive before the snooze button- how did you get out bed??! (state, invention)

[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!

[MidValleyDad]

The snooze button is one of the dumbest inventions ever. Set the alarm for when you want to get up and when it goes off GET UP. Yes people would go back to sleep and be late for (or miss) work. And they still do. I've known people who found it best to have the alarm clock across the room so they have to get up to turn it off.

And the idea of napping during the day was close to a sin. (especially at work) It was an admission that you weren't as good or tough as everyone else

[Normashirley]

I am retired so, qualify to answer the "life before snooze buttons".

It helped being raised on a farm, where "up before the chickens" was a literal statement.

it was ingrained in me, at an early age, when the alarm went off, get up and get the day started. I never gave it a second thought and yes, I am one of those people whose feet used to hit the floor running ---- 8 days a week/all year long.

These days, I Have to wait until the Excedrin kicks in and the pain patches start to work but, I am still awake watching the news at 5:00 AM. Haven't used alarms for many years, I just wake up, even if I've only had a few hours of restless sleep.

While I think the snooze button syndrome is dependent on the person's inherent energy level anyway, ya can't beat life on the farm for learning how to get up without an alarm and just get going.

Not to mention the overal good muscle tone one keeps from doing barn chores, fence mending, gardening, yaddayadda, every day

[Snowball7]

The snooze button and napping are two totally different topics.
Snooze performs a much-needed function and has contributed greatly
to American working people by allowing them the essential sleep before
getting up and going to work.
So many late nighters, drinkers, dreamers, and semi-ill people have made
it to work because the snooze button was there to gradually accomodate their
bodies - psychosomatically - into a state of wakefulness and readiness which
didn't exist prior to its invention.
Before snooze, that alarm went off - some turned off rather quickly - and
not coming back on again to alert the sleeper - millions of people were late
for work because the alarm didn't awake them or because they turned it off
perhaps not even aware of what they were doing. So there's a fail.
The ones that rang for a longer time were not as good as the snooze option either,
because the subconscious mind often blotted out the noise - and the sleeper lost
track of passed time; along with the fact that most of the alarms reduced in volume
as the alarm time progressed, increasing the likelihood that the sleeper would stay
unconscious.

[Mr. In-Between]

Damned if I know. I only use an alarm clock once or twice a year, if I have to catch a really early flight or something. Otherwise I just go to bed at whatever time I need to go to bed in order to wake up at whatever time I need to get up. If you use an alarm clock you are, by definition, not getting as much sleep as your body needs. And that's no way to start out the day.

[Normashirley]

Originally Posted by Snowball7

The snooze button and napping are two totally different topics.
Snooze performs a much-needed function and has contributed greatly
to American working people by allowing them the essential sleep before
getting up and going to work.
So many late nighters, drinkers, dreamers, and semi-ill people have made
it to work because the snooze button was there to gradually accomodate their
bodies - psychosomatically - into a state of wakefulness and readiness which
didn't exist prior to its invention.
Before snooze, that alarm went off - some turned off rather quickly - and
not coming back on again to alert the sleeper - millions of people were late
for work because the alarm didn't awake them or because they turned it off
perhaps not even aware of what they were doing. So there's a fail.
The ones that rang for a longer time were not as good as the snooze option either,
because the subconscious mind often blotted out the noise - and the sleeper lost
track of passed time; along with the fact that most of the alarms reduced in volume
as the alarm time progressed, increasing the likelihood that the sleeper would stay
unconscious.

That is a good analysis; there seems to be an analysis for everything these days

Although I mainly kept my drinking to Friday and Saturday nights, I have had more than my share of late drinking week nights and made it to work on time without a snooze button. I suffered every bit as much from the alcohol as the snooze-buttoners.

I think snooze buttons are a cop out but, that is just my opinion. Stop whining, you did it to yourself (the week night drinkers), just get up and get moving. I had no sympathy for these types (myself included) when I was young and in that moment, and still dont

[Scrat335]

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?

It's simple. Just get out of bed when the alarm goes off. If you don't have the willpower to manage your life you need to develop it.

I have been working with a 24 yr old for about 6 weeks now, training him. For the first month he was never late, the last 2 weeks he has been late twice. If he is late tomorrow or any time in the near future he will be given 3 days off (without pay) to sleep as much as he wants, as late as he wants. If he's late again he will be fired.

Grow up.

[victimofGM]

We got better sleep and better diet back then. We didn't guzzle caffeinated drinks all day long and we didn't eat as much toxic foods as we do today. We watched less TV and did more activities that today would be considered exercise. The TV stations went off the air after a particular hour of the evening, usually around midnight, so there literally was nothing to watch. We went to bed after the local evening news or after The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. If we stayed up later it was because we were either tending to sick children or were out at some form of a party that could include dancing. The streets outside our home weren't as brightly lit at night like they are today. We could see a great many more stars in the night sky than we can today due to light pollution. So after a day of work, physical activities, little to no caffeine drinking, and not as much emotional stress we were more easily able to get a good night's sleep. The alarm clocks back then were louder and more annoying. You had the wind-up clocks with the loud ringing bell or the electric clocks with the loud buzzing. Once you were up, you got up. Even if you didn't have to get up, the light from the rising sun woke you up and then you gradually woke up like you described. Once you got up, you made the bed and got ready for work/school.

OP, if you want to see what it was like, try doing this. First spend a few days with no computers, tablets, and cell phones. If you have wifi, unplug the wifi. Cut off power to all electronics (TV, DVD, DVR, game console, etc) in the bedrooms. In the living room, cut off power to all those electronics except the TV. Don't turn on the TV before 5am and turn it off right after the local evening news. An AM/FM radio is allowed. Limit your TV watching to ABC, CBS, NBC, & PBS. With so little to choose from, you're likely to open a book, go for a walk, clean house, work in the yard, wash the car, go to the park, or engage in some other outdoor activities. Drink no more than 2 cups of coffee in the morning, no more than one can of cola, and the rest of the day drink milk or water. Warning, if you are use to drinking plenty of caffeinated drinks and you try this, you'll have an intense withdrawal headache at the end of the first day. If there's plenty of night time street lights coming into the bedroom window, put up room darkening drapes. Don't go to bed until you're ready to sleep. Get the mind and body to associate the bedroom with sleep only. Today's culture has turned the bedroom into a place of entertainment (TV, DVD, DVR, video games, smart phones, tablets, or laptops). All these things have bright light that your eyes are focused upon and this effects your sleep cycle.

[ohhwanderlust]

Snooze button kinda defeats the purpose of an alarm clock, no?

[Mary2014]

I am a morning person -so I always set the alarm on a clock radio to turn on soft music around 6am when I was working. That and I had a cat(s) that always came in to wake me up to feed them around 5:30 every morning. (They never quite got the clocks changing twice a year routine so on those days I was up an hour earlier or an hour later than usual).

Now that I am retired my cat still wakes me up in the morning. If I don't seem to be moving quickly enough he starts making noises to indicate he is about to throw up a hairball- as he knows that sound gets me wide awake in a flash.