Handheld School Bell

The MOTAL collection includes a teacher’s handheld bell that is almost 90 years old. Our bell is 8 inches tall and 4 inches in diameter. It has a wooden handle, a brass body, and an iron clapper with a dense ball that strikes the body to make the bell ring. The clapper is also responsible for the crack in the bell, a condition many bells develop over time. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, is commonly used for making bells of this rather small size. The curved body of the bell consists of the crown, shoulder, waist, and, at the bottom, the lip and mouth.

A teacher typically rang a handheld bell to signal students to come inside or to begin and end class; it may be used for other purposes such as getting students’ attention for special announcements.

A Short History

The first bells are believed to be from the 3rd century BC and were made of pottery. These were found to be from the Neolithic period in China (before the use of metal).
Around the 2nd century, metal bells were invented using the same metallurgy invented for use as finger cymbals. The process of making a metal bell is called founding.
Bells were often used as a way to call attention to the public and to call people to religious ceremonies. In the west, bells were hung in church bell towers and in the public square. Many churches shared the space for the local school so the bell became a way to alert students to the start and end of the school day.
Around 1700, two brothers named William and Robert Cor in England invented the handheld bell. These bells were also made as an instrument used in bell choirs.

Donation

MOTAL’s bell was donated in 2006 by Robert and Sharon Loeschen. Sharon inherited the bell from her father, who taught in a one-room schoolhouse starting in 1931 while her mother taught at another one-room school at the same time. Then her father taught in a two-room school, also serving as its principal. He continued to be a principal in the 1950s, when the community built a large brick school for all eight grades. Sharon attended that school, and her mother was one of the teachers.

Learn More!

If you would like to learn more about the stereoscope, we recommend the following:
"Does This Ring a Bell? School Bells of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries" by Elizabeth Wells, Smithsonian (May 29, 2018)