Bevin Brothers Manufacturing company (also called Bevin Brothers) is a family-owned
bell foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
located in
East Hampton, Connecticut.
History
The company was found by brothers,
William Bevin,
Chauncey Bevin, and
Abner Bevin in 1832. They were later joined by a fourth brother,
Philo Bevin.
The business's website states it produced the first foot gong used in an automobile (the bell was patented in 1897). The foot gong is a bell that was beneath the floor of early automobiles and was rung by pressing it with your foot. It has since been replaced by the car horn.
Through the years more than 30 companies have made bells in East Hampton earning it the nickname of "Bell Town." Bevin Brothers is the only remaining bell manufacturer in East Hampton and still remains in the Bevin family.
Through the years it has made
sleigh bells, house bells,
cow bell
A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...
s, sheep bells,
door bell
A doorbell is a signaling device typically placed near a door to a building's entrance. When a visitor presses a button, the bell rings inside the building, alerting the occupant to the presence of the visitor. Although the first doorbells wer ...
s, and ship's bells.
On May 27, 2012, the factory was struck by lightning resulting in a devastating fire that razed the Bevin Brothers mill. In the wake of the fire, Bevin Brothers' future as a bellmaker was uncertain. At the time of the fire, the factory was reported to be the last company in the United States to solely produce bells, which it still claims to be, as of 2019.
[https://bevinbells.com/about-bevin-bells/ About Our Bells, Bevin Bells website, retrieved August 27, 2019] At the time, it had 19 employees, and was reported to make 1.2 million bells in 200 varieties. As of 2019, it reportedly makes 50 types of bells.
Notable bells
* All of the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
Christmas bells
* The bell used to indicate the start and finish of the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
trading
* Boxing championship bells
* A bell aboard the
U.S.S. Maine
Four ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS ''Maine'', named for the 23rd state:
* , was a battleship whose 1898 sinking precipitated the Spanish–American War.
* , launched in 1901, was the lead ship of her class of battleship ...
* The bell used to signify an angel got its wings in the 1946 film ''
It's a Wonderful Life''
* The cowbell played by
Will Ferrell in the ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' sketch "
More Cowbell"
See also
*
Matt Bevin
References
External links
*{{HAER , survey=CT-12 , id=ct0320 , title=Bevin Brothers Bell Shops, Bevin Court, East Hampton, Middlesex County, CT , photos=13 , data=3 , cap=1
1832 establishments in Connecticut
Companies based in Middlesex County, Connecticut
East Hampton, Connecticut
Historic American Engineering Record in Connecticut
Bell foundries of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Connecticut