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THE LIBERTY BELL: from Commodity to Sacred Object

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THE LIBERTY BELL: from Commodity to Sacred Object 04 Callahan (to) d 19/1/99 1:55 pm Page 57 THE LIBERTY BELL From Commodity to Sacred Object ◆ ROBEY CALLAHAN University of Pennsylvania Abstract The Liberty Bell stands today as one of the most prominent and widely recognized symbols of America. As a cultural biography of this national artifact, this paper focuses on the four main media through which the Bell has over time gained the exposure needed for its consecration in the public mind. The media of presenting the Bell include (1) the changing ways in which it has been exhibited in Philadelphia for the public and (2) the many train journeys across the United States the Bell took from 1885 to 1915 to visit various industrial expositions. The media of representing the Bell include (3) the many mid- to late-19th-century mythic stories that portray it as a key figure in both the American Revolution and the early 19th-century anti- slavery movement in the United States and (4) the post-1876 growth of the use of its image in advertising and tourism. Key Words ◆ advertising ◆ commoditization/singularization ◆ iconology ◆ Liberty Bell ◆ national monuments ◆ tourism Proclaim Liberty throughout All the Land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Inscription on the Liberty Bell INTRODUCTION The Liberty Bell stands today as one of the most prominent and widely recognized symbols of America (Figure 1). It has appeared on both Journal of Material Culture Copyright © 1999 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi) Vol. 4(1): 57–78 [1359-1835(199903)4:1; 57–78;007374] 57 04 Callahan (to) d 19/1/99 1:55 pm Page 58 Journal of MATERIAL CULTURE 4(1) common and commemora- tive coinage and served as the symbol and name for a number of American space capsules (French and Zeller, 1978: 135, 143; Reichhardt, 1987: 25–8). As a tourist attraction, the Bell brings millions every year to Philadelphia and serves also as a sign of that city. Like the American flag (cf. Firth, 1973), it means different things to different people. It has been used by a wide range of social and political groups within the United States, from genealogical societies to survivalists and white- supremacist groups (Pen- rose, 1974; Lowe, 1985: 12; Waas, 1986: 17). Its image can be found in advertise- ments for everything from FIGURE 1 The Liberty Bell today insurance to butter, cos- metics to beer, sports apparel to board games (Wollett and Wollett, 1987: 27; O’Meara, 1994: 2144, 2271, 2671, 3315). In this paper I shall analyze the rise of this national artifact from its early days of obscurity to its current fame. What is the nature of this fame? Today an image bearing the merest outline of a bell with an evident crack proceeding upward from the base will lead most Ameri- cans immediately to think, ‘the Liberty Bell’. How did this arise? Any analysis seeking to plot the winding path by which an object such as the Liberty Bell has come to hold for Americans such instant familiarity will benefit from consideration of two concepts: Panofsky’s iconology and Kopytoff’s singularization. Panofsky (1982[1955]) defines ‘iconology’ as the study of the social conditions under which images obtain their conventional meaning. This conventional meaning exists at the level of recognition and hence differs from ‘deeper’ meanings that may be associated with the object or its representation. An icono- logical study of images of the Liberty Bell would thus involve con- sideration of the historical factors involved in the establishment of two 58 04 Callahan (to) d 19/1/99 1:55 pm Page 59 Callahan: THE LIBERTY BELL key features (the bell-shape and the crack) as the only elements essen- tial to invoke recognition in onlookers of the referent ‘the Liberty Bell’ (Figure 2). For Kopytoff (1986) an object is only a pure commodity at the point of exchange. In most cases a given object remains a potential commodity after its exchange – that is, it can with greater or lesser difficulty be con- verted back into a pure commodity. Some objects, however, become more and more singularized over time or by the decree of some auth- ority and are removed altogether from the possibility of future exchange. One concomitant of this processual scheme is that objects possess indi- vidual histories analyzable in biographical terms. In my biography of the Liberty Bell, I shall focus mainly on the various media through which the Bell has over time gained the exposure that has secured its transformation in the public mind to a sacred object. The media of presenting the Bell include (1) the changing ways in which it has been exhibited in (what is now) Independence Hall and in the Liberty Bell Pavilion and (2) the many train journeys across the United States the Bell took from 1885 to 1915 to visit a number of the country’s industrial expositions. The media of representing the FIGURE 2 The Bell in neon Bell include (3) the many mid- to late-19th-century mythic stories that portray it as a key figure in both the American Revolution and the early 19th-century anti- slavery movement in the United States and (4) the post-1876 growth of the use of its image in advertising and tourism. The sections that follow are organized with attention to strict chrono- logical time, and so I shall address each of these four media as it appears rele- vant to that sequence. In order to avoid confusion, I shall refer to the Liberty Bell as we know it today simply as ‘the Bell’ throughout the greater part of the paper. 59 04 Callahan (to) d 19/1/99 1:55 pm Page 60 Journal of MATERIAL CULTURE 4(1) I. OBSCURITY AND COMMODITY/POTENTIAL- COMMODITY STATUS: THE BELL’S FIRST CENTURY This section of the paper deals mainly with the period from the Bell’s manufacture, through its early years of use in the State House, and to its retirement from service in 1852. An extended quotation from one of the modern tourist guides (Kimball, 1989: 7, emphasis mine) will set the stage for the discussion that follows: The Liberty Bell is not only our nation’s most famous and venerated object, it has become a world-wide symbol of freedom.... As befits such a famous object, much is known about the bell’s origins. We know why it was made, who made it, how much it weighed, how much it cost, and when it was finally hoisted up and hung in the steeple of Penn- sylvania’s State House (Independence Hall). After 1852, when, cracked and useless it was taken down from the steeple and put on display in the Assembly Room of the Hall, we know its every famous visitor, its every famous move. But strangely, for the ninety-nine years between 1753 when it was raised to the State House steeple, and 1852 when it was lowered again, we know relatively little about it. During those years, it rang in anonymity. It was simply one of several bells in the city. The historical record seldom tells us when the bell rang and no contemporary that we know of bothered to note when the now famous crack first occurred. Ironically, it was during those years of obscurity that a quiet yet significant transformation took place. Gradually, this State House bell of debatable quality evolved into an enduring symbol of freedom. I shall argue that, rather than ‘during those years of obscurity’, the ‘sig- nificant transformation’ began to take place in the early 1850s. Before that time, but after its initial purchase, the Bell was effectively a poten- tial commodity in Kopytoff’s terms. There have been many retrospective attempts to obscure its status as a potential commodity during its first century, but these attempts rely mainly on wishful thinking and flawed interpretations of historical data. I begin with the Bell’s founding, re-founding and its early journeys and then proceed to an examination of the possible origins of the name ‘The Liberty Bell’. A. FOUNDINGS AND EARLY JOURNEYS A brief survey of the founding and re-founding of the Bell will be suf- ficient to prove its initial status as a commodity and early status as a potential commodity. It was first cast in England as the result of an order placed in 1751 by the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania. The language used to refer to the Bell during this period is, quite under- standably, the language of the world of commodities. For example, the order of the Assembly for 16 October 1751 reads: 60 04 Callahan (to) d 19/1/99 1:55 pm Page 61 Callahan: THE LIBERTY BELL That the Superintendents of the State-house provide a bell of such Weight and Dimensions as they shall think suitable; That the said Superintendents do apply to the Trustees of the General Loan Office for an immediate Supply of such Sums of money as they may judge necessary to remit to Great Britain for the Purpose aforesaid; And that the Payment made, in Pursuance of this Order, shall be allowed by the Committee of Accounts in their next settlement with the said Trustees, who shall have a Copy of this Order delivered to them, signed by the Clerk of this House, if required. (quoted in Rosewater, 1926: 5) The Bell arrived in Philadelphia on 1 September 1752. It was rung a few days later for testing and cracked almost immediately. Two Americans, John Pass and Charles Stow Jr, were charged with recasting the Bell, a task they had to perform twice because their first casting produced an unacceptable tone.
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