In March 1965, the state of Colorado initiated a “trial period” to introduce daylight saving time to its residents. They then were asked to vote on the time change in a ballot measure in the November 1966 election.

“Springing forward” and “falling back” brought out strong opinions among the locals.

Bars and restaurants were affected the most, as managers claimed that when people came in an hour later to drink and eat, it cut down on their profits. Mike Bisesi of the Huddle Restaurant didn’t mince words when he told a Camera reporter, “I hate it! I’m violently opposed to it!”

Others, though, liked the extra hours of daylight on summer evenings. When interviewed by Camera reporters, they said they enjoyed puttering around in their backyards in the evenings. Those with mixed feelings had concerns about children going to school in the dark in the mornings.

Brad Leach, then owner of the Buff Conoco station at the corner of University Avenue and Broadway, was one of many in favor. “I like it,” he stated. “I hope it stays.”

Daylight saving time, however, wasn’t an entirely new concept. In the U.S., the practice of taking an hour of daylight from the mornings and adding it back in the evenings was enacted nationwide in 1918, during World War I. It was believed that daylight savings would cut electric power costs in war industries and make blackouts more effective.

After the First World War, national daylight savings time was discontinued until it was reinstated during World War II.

In 1945, when that war was over, most states east of the Mississippi River stayed on daylight savings time, while many western states, including Colorado, did not.

Daylight savings time between 1945 and 1966, was haphazard. A reporter at the end of this period summarized the situation by writing, “Only 18 states observed daylight saving time on a statewide basis, 18 other states observed it in some manner during the summer, and 14 states did not observe it.”

For many Colorado’s residents, the time change in 1965 was their first experience altering their clocks. Supporters stated that daylight saving time “would give residents 153 more hours of daylight and bring in $11,475,000 in additional tourist spending.” No one explained, though, how that would be achieved.

Meanwhile, farmers pointed out that changing the clock wouldn’t change the time that the chickens and cows woke up and needed tending. And mothers of bottle-fed babies admitted to adjusting their feeding schedules by 15-minute intervals and spoke of problems getting children to sleep during sunny summer evenings.

In April 1966, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, allowing individual states to stay on standard time —— or go on daylight saving time if they voted to do so.

Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii were the first states to decide to stay on standard time year-round, followed (temporarily) by Michigan and Indiana.

In November 1966, Colorado joined the majority of states permanently authorizing residents to “fall back” and “spring forward.”

Even so, the controversy continued. One opinionated Colorado resident was the chairman of a group named the “Committee for Standard Time.” He urged Coloradans to vote against “Confusion Time” that he also called “Daylite Stealing Time.”

“This fast time,” he stated, “would turn us into a nation of demented clock-winders.” The debate continues today.

Silvia Pettem’s In Retrospect column appears once a month. She can be reached at silviapettem@gmail.com or through her website, silviapettem.com.