Originally, I wasn't serious about doing an update on what bottom of the hour means. Joke's over, I guess.

If you face an older clock, the 12 is at the top of the hour, and the 6 is at the bottom. So half-past is the bottom of the hour. After that, you start getting closer the next hour. Like the Romans with their I before V (even after C). By the time the hand is on the 8, you'd be "twenty to" or "twenty of" instead of "twenty past".

The concluding portion of the comic came to mind because I was going to make an "Okay, Grandpa" joke in the dialogue. Or maybe Great Grandpa if I wanted to invoke a different period of history.

While my uncles served in the U.S. Navy, my Dad and oldest brother were Army. My knowledge of Bells comes from Capt. Jack McCarthy who hosted not only the St. Patrick's Day Parade coverage in NYC but also afternoon cartoons on a local station. Popeye cartoons, of course. He'd come on TV every afternoon and announce "Six Bells and All's Well!" And with cartoons, it definitely was.

Last "bells" reference. Keep in mind, this was told to me by an Army vet I looked up to, when I was maybe 7 years old, and he heard it from a Navy vet. So consider this some intra-military rivalry jocularity:

The announcer on Naval radio gave the time: "It's six bells! For you Army soldiers, it's 1500. For you Marines, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3."