I’ve been getting a ton of interest from reporters and voters in California of late because of Proposition 7, that would set California on a path to stay in Daylight Saving Time year-round.
To be prepared, I did a bit of research, and was so excited about what I found I had to share it with you here.
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress of a California “Housewife” during WWII.
It does seem odd to have to vote on Prop 7 in 2018. It’s got that weird wording that makes it clear this is the first in what would be a long series of steps needed to #LockTheClock.
So why is it needed at all?
Because of Prop 12, approved by voters in 1949.
Check it out:
You see, just after WWII, Californians had to vote to be able to have the newfangled Daylight Saving Time, which was a new version of War Time. That’s what we used during both the world wars, mostly in an effort to stay in sync with the Brits, who in turn did it because the Germans did it first. Why the Germans did that is not agreed on, at all.
Californians had twice before rejected the idea of Daylight Saving Time, in 1930 and again in 1940, but the war changed a lot. For instance, a LOT of women went to work in the war effort, like the one pictured above. The state also ballooned in size during and after the war, though it was still tiny compared to today.
So when the voters of California, especially the women, read in the information provided by the state this argument against Daylight Saving Time, well, it didn’t go so well.
My hunch is that a lot of women didn’t particularly like being called “THE HOUSEWIFE” in the first place.
And once again, the poor farmer was used in the argument on the vote no side:
As I’ve written about, the Farmer has never wanted to have any part of this debate, and yet the PR types love to trot out THE FARMER whenever they want to get their own way.
So, the measure passed, which must have made Californians feel like they were really living in the future.
But, because 1949’s Prop 12 was, like all the other propositions Californians vote on every year, ensconced in the Constitution, the only way to fix it is with another proposition. Hence 2018’s Prop 7.
Does Prop 7 Go Against The Will of the Voter from 1949?
Hard to say. All we know is that the voters wanted more daylight later in the day during the summer.
If they had been asked: Would you like more daylight near the end of the day in the summer AND the winter? I think there’s a pretty good chance they would have said yes and we wouldn’t be stuck trying to figure out how to fix the clock in our cars on Monday morning, but somehow that question never even came up.
So, there you have it. Just like your forefathers and foremothers in California in 1949, it’s up to you, the California voter of today to fix the clock for good.