My mother snapped this picture of my father doing diaper duty with six -month-old me. What I like about the picture is the paranoid schizophrenic Kit Kat Clock on the wall behind us. A rare bit of whimsy in my room, it clicked quite loudly as its slit eyes rolled left, then right, while its pendulum tail swung. Originally designed by Earl Arnault in 1932 for Allied Manufacturing Company, this original plug-in version was made from the thirties into the fifties. The earliest ones have only two lower paws. This one has four, indicating that it was from the end of the Allied era.

Kit Kat clocks enjoyed a pop culture revival in the 1980s and are still made today by the California Clock Company. Contemporary editions are battery operated, say Kit Kat on their face, and include a necklace or bow tie that none of the original clocks had. View full size.