Railroad dinner bell chime presented to Leo LaRue in honor of his retirement: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This dinner chime has four gold-colored metal chimes mounted above large brown tubular resonators. The resonators, in conjunction with the chimes, increase in width and depth as the notes progressively deepen in pitch. The four gold chime plates are engraved with the following message (a break in text means the line is on the subsequent chime plate): [Presented to/ Leo LaRue/ AS A MEMENTO FROM HIS MANY FRIENDS/ on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe]. 2012.93.2 is the included striking mallet, which has more wear than the dinner chime set, but matches it in color and appearance.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid-20th century
• Issued by: Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, American, 1859 - 1996
• Received by: Leo LaRue, American, 1918 - 2002
• Manufactured by: J.C. Deagan Company, American
• Type: chimes
• Type: musical instruments
• Medium: metal and wood
• Dimensions: chimes: 8 1/4 x 12 1/4 x 2 7/8 in. (21 x 31.1 x 7.3 cm)
• Dimensions: mallet: 1 x 1 x 8 1/2 in. (2.5 x 2.5 x 21.6 cm)
• Place used: Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Labor
• Topic: Social life and customs
• Topic: Transportation
• Object number: 2012.93.1-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ina Mae LaRue
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.