On one side of the stage hung "The Clock Strikes 5 O'Clock!", and on the other, "The Three Eights." The two paintings complement each other. "The Clock" shows what the socialists opposed: long working days and child labor, while "The Three Eights" shows what they fought for: the eight-hour workday and the emancipation of workers. The three eights represent eight hours of work, eight hours of recreation, and eight hours of rest.
As early as 1890, the international socialist movement organized a day of struggle for the eight-hour workday. May 1st was chosen as the date, marking the beginning of a tradition that has made May 1st a day of celebration and struggle to this day. In 1890, the eight-hour workday was still a distant prospect, a utopia, so to speak. In Belgium, it wasn't until 1921 that the eight-hour day was finally introduced, when, after the First World War, the socialists participated in a government for the first time.
The painting, which depicts a young man and two young women singing and playing music, represents not only the shortening of the workday to eight hours, but also the filling of the other hours. In addition to the eight hours of rest, workers needed time to develop and grow. From the end of the 19th century, the socialist movement established all sorts of cultural associations, theater groups, choirs, brass bands, reading clubs, gymnastics clubs, and so on, with the common goal of emancipating workers. This emancipation also included compulsory education, which was intended to offer workers a better life and simultaneously prepare them to fully participate in society.
