On the stretch of Bruckenstrasse between the Helen Welcome Center and the second smallest gift shop with a spiral wooden staircase, there are, by the photographer's count, fourteen cuckoo clocks displayed in ground-floor windows or mounted on exterior walls. This is a block of approximately 200 linear feet. The photographer walked it once, north to south, and recorded attention.
Rank 1 is the clock that received the most simultaneous observers. Rank 14 is the clock that received none, including from its own retail environment.
1. The Schwarzwald-Style Eight-Day Movement Clock, Hofer's Gift Annex window, 10:23 a.m.
Three people were looking at this clock at the moment of the photograph. One was consulting their phone, possibly cross-referencing a purchase. The other two were looking at the clock with what appeared, on the photographer's read, to be genuine undivided attention. This is the best-observed clock on the block.
2. The Carved-Hunting-Scene Clock, Edelweiss Strasse Trinkets exterior wall, 10:31 a.m.
Two observers. One had stopped and was describing the carved hunting scene to a companion who had not stopped. The companion eventually stopped. The clock, which features three carved deer and a hunter in mid-stalk, has been mounted at this exterior location for, per the retailer's estimate (obtained on a prior visit), approximately nine years.
3. The Oversize Demonstration Clock, Christmas Shoppe north window, 10:18 a.m.
Two observers, both children, standing with their faces approximately six inches from the glass. The clock is operated on a demonstration cycle that triggers the cuckoo mechanism every three minutes, independent of the actual time. It was, at 10:18 a.m., between cycles.
4. The Novelty Beer-Stein-And-Clock Combination Unit, Bruckenstrasse Souvenir Shoppe side window, 10:41 a.m.
One observer, adult, photographing the clock with a phone. The clock occupies approximately one-third of the display surface. The remainder of the display is beer steins. The observer was photographing specifically the clock portion.
5. The Traditional Black Forest Pendulum Clock, third shelf from the left in the Hofer's Gift Annex interior, 10:24 a.m.
One observer, visible through the window, standing at the counter. The observer was not, strictly speaking, observing the clock — they were facing the counter and the clock was behind them — but they were within the spatial frame of the clock's shelf and the photographer is counting this.
6. The Hand-Painted Floral Clock, Edelweiss Strasse Trinkets interior display, 10:30 a.m.
One observer. An older woman, standing at the display case, holding the clock by its base and turning it over to read the underside. This is, arguably, the most attentive form of observation documented in this survey. The photographer has ranked it sixth due to its interiority.
7. The Miniature Reproduction Clock, keychain rack at Bruckenstrasse Souvenir Shoppe, 10:44 a.m.
One observer, child, holding one of the keychains and pressing the button on the back that triggers a recorded cuckoo sound. The button was pressed three times in the period the photographer was within earshot. The sound is, the photographer can report, accurate.
8. The Chalet-Style Clock With Moving Figures, Christmas Shoppe south window, 10:17 a.m.
The moving figures — a farmer and a woman in dirndl, rotating on a platform beneath the clock face — were between cycles at 10:17 a.m. One observer was waiting for a cycle. The photographer did not wait. The photographer has no evidence that a cycle occurred within a reasonable window.
9. The Wall-Mounted Reproduction Clock, exterior bracket above the Heidi Motel Gift Corner entrance, 10:09 a.m.
No observers at the moment of passing. One person was entering the gift shop below it but appeared, by their trajectory, to be entering the gift shop rather than observing the clock. The clock is mounted at a height of approximately eight feet and may require deliberate upward attention.
10. The Antique-Style Clock With Pendulum Weights, display case at the rear of the Christmas Shoppe, 10:16 a.m.
The photographer could observe this clock only by pressing against the front window and looking left. No one inside the shop appeared to be looking at it. The clock is in the rear case. Getting to the rear case requires navigating the center display of Christmas ornaments. It was February.
11. The Reproduction Travel-Size Clock, hanging from a pegboard hook at Edelweiss Strasse Trinkets, 10:29 a.m.
No observers. The clock was rotating slowly on its hook. The pegboard was otherwise stocked with bottle-opener magnets and shot glasses. The photographer noted the clock on a second pass of the window because it had rotated during the first pass and become more visible.
12. The Painted-Face-Only Wall Medallion That Is Technically A Clock, Christmas Shoppe interior, 10:15 a.m.
This entry is disputed internally. The item features a clock face with hands but has, in the photographer's assessment, positioned itself aesthetically as a decorative medallion. It was not observed by anyone during the photographer's window. It may not think of itself as a clock.
13. The Small Cuckoo Clock In The Back Corner Of The Hofer's Gift Annex, 10:26 a.m.
The photographer identified this clock by its cuckoo mechanism housing, which is visible above a rack of postcards. The clock is priced, per a handwritten tag visible through the postcard rack, at $148. No one was near it. The postcards in front of it were Helen panoramas, $3.50 each, and they were receiving more traffic.
14. The Full-Size Traditional Cuckoo Clock On The Interior SOUTH Wall Of Bruckenstrasse Souvenir Shoppe, 10:47 a.m.
The photographer entered the shop specifically to confirm this clock's existence, having seen its housing reflected in a glass case near the entrance. It is a fully functional eight-day Black Forest movement clock with carved walnut case, hunter-and-deer motif, and operating pendulum. It is priced at $340. The shopkeeper, present at the register, was not looking at it. No customers were near it. The clock was, at 10:47 a.m., running.
— Romi Fitzgerald
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