@freemo Oh I didn't think about it like that. If it was a climate control system they could have used analog computational components that would work well enough. A 24 hour clock could drive a replaceable disk that would activate different relays according to the time.
IE Newtonian Heating and Cooling could be used when implemented with approximate value disks. For more heat the value of the relays could increase via a potentiometer. For less heat the voltage to the heating coils could be reduced proportional to the time of day.
If it's difficult to visualize, just think about a music box. It was the 50s so why not have a bunch of rotating disks in the wall just to get the desired temperature range for a residence?
@AmpBenzScientist I mean more so if you count that, but hardly needs to be considered. The cost to get the same functionality in the 50s would be astronomical even with 50s tech... more so if you magically had a microchip.
If you built a modern thermostat in the 50's your themostate would literally need its own home.