Dating Belknap 1840 no. 2 bell

[Rmeav8r]

A little help dating this bell please. Received as a gift from an old friend, obviously not 1840. It has the matching yoke and upright and came from my friend’s grandmother’s home. He said it was in her yard at least 50 years ago and he’s had it stored for the last 20 years. He’s got another one and passed this one to me.

It’s marked BELKNAP 1840 2 LOUISVILLE KY. Bell is 15 inches across the bowl. The upright is a little harder to read but is marked CRYSTAL METAL on one side and no. 2 and I think 1884. Any help appreciated, I looked but ran into dead ends on dating it. My guess is early 1920’s - 1950’s.

Thanks, happy hunting in 2021!

 

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[Kenosha Kid]

also finding it hard to date. from researching Belknap, it looks like about everything was outsourced made. they had their name put on the goods and then sold in their hardware store.

https://brokensidewalk.com/2010/lost-louisville-belknap-warehouses/

more research:

http://www.towerbells.org/HillsboroFoundry.html

Belknap had the bells made by the C.S. Bell Co. in Hillsboro, OH
Prindle Station, Washougal, WA bought the bell moulds in 1944.

[TABLE="width: 70%"]
[TR]
[TH]Name[/TH]
[TH]Years of operation[/TH]
[TH]Type of Operation[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C. S. Bell[/TD]
[TD]1875 - 1882[/TD]
[TD]Single proprietorship[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C. S. Bell & Co.[/TD]
[TD]1882 - 1894[/TD]
[TD]Partnership[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The C. S. Bell Co.[/TD]
[TD]1894 - 1970s[/TD]
[TD]Corporation[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 3"] In all cases, the maker's name appears not on the bell itself,
as it usually does for bronze bells, but on the yoke from which the bell is hung.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


http://www.towerbells.org/GoeppingerBook2.html

p.62 (added), William B. Belknap & Co.Address: Louisville, KentuckyYears in Operation: 18??-1903Commentary: This firm, whose principal was William Burke Belknap, sold private label bells made by the C.S.Bell company, marked "W B B & Co Louisville KY" and bearing the 1886 date of redesign. In 1904, the name of the firm became Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company; it is not known whether they continued to sell private label bells.

p.63, The C. S. Bell CompanyAddress: This does not mean that Hillsboro became Tiffin. The firm that bought the Hillsboro general foundry business (but not its bell business) relocated to Tiffin. Hence it is not the Successor of the Hillsboro firm with respect to bells.Successor: Prindle Station, which bought the farm bell molds after the closure of the Hillsboro foundry.

https://www.prindlestation.com/category-s/150.htm

Today, those original patterns are used by Prindle Station to manufacture historical C.S. Bell Company bells for customers around the world.

In 1869 Bell purchased Marlay’s interest...working with a metal formula he had developed...The first year after the discovery of the bell formula, 1,000 bells were sold....

Charles E. Bell, son of the founder, was taken into partnership in 1882 and the C.S. Bell Co. was formed.

Charles S. Bell died in 1905.Charles E. Bell and Co continued the business.The sale of the bells was slow, so the company again concentrated on the manufacture of laborsaving machinery for the farm.About 1,000 bells per year were produced.

WWII saw a metal shortage; bells were mainly made for the U.S., British and Russian Navy.

There is an 1897 ad for Sears with your bell in it. C.S. Bell also made them for Montgomery Wards as they did for Belknap Hardware.

Unless it is modern (meaning, made by Prindle in the old Bell moulds), I’d venture a guess of mid 1880s to early 1900s (the decline of production).

 

[Rmeav8r]

Wow Kenosha Kid, that’s much more than I found. There are som markings on the upright that I believe has CS on it. I’ll investigate better when the weather clears and get confirmation.
Thanks!