I can hear those churchbells now

I love the sound of Church bell music, as they were often heard from many different churches within our area. The only problem was that these churches that played the bells were very far to walk to. So the only time I got to hear them, was if we had passed by those churches during our trips just as they began to play their bells. I soon began to memorize which churches had played their bells and at what time. I remember a lot of tv shows I had watched as a kid that had an episode or two of church bell music being played. One of which is the “Our Gang” episode “Pups is Pups.” A little boy named Wheezer had a bunch of playful and mischievous puppies that tend to run off and get lost. The only way for him to retrieve them back was by making the sound of a bell, for which got their attention and then they would run back,. “Figuring maybe that it was time to eat.” The puppies did run off and every time they heard a bell ring. So finally Wheezer was sad and desperate to get his lost puppies back, so he went to St. Patrick’s Cathedrial in NYC and rang their carillon bells to call the puppies over, and they did all back and Wheezer got his puppies back. Then there was another episode where two kids have attempted to host a party of their own to raise money to get their mom a birthday present. But their father was mean and unforgiving and often scolded his kids, as he discovered the mess of the party afterwards. In the end, the kids got their mom a birthday present of a nice dress and awkward shoes and you heard the church bells ringing as they got ready and go to church. Other Tv shows like the Patchwork Family had an episode scene where the Uncle or Father of the family, who was the musician had demonstrated a bunch of things that made sounds and music. The main thing he did lastly was ring a set of Orchestral Chimes which sounded harmonious to me. Another kid show called Pinwheel had a scene about Minus getting an old alarm clock from Mr. Ebeneezer T Squint. It was nightime so while Minus tried to set the alarm, it went off by itself during the night waking everyone in the house. One of the alarms was the sound of the Westminster Chimes heard some where in NYC. It used to be the opening scene of the Wall Street Week show in the 1980’s.


Most often I enjoyed the movies and cartoons they showed about clocks, or bells. Like showing how cuckoo clocks were made, or an animated story about a Cuckoo Clock that had a Cuckoo bird that wouldn’t cuckoo, because he needed a friend.

I was amazed during an episode of Kidsworld that ran on Nickelodeon, when they had a episode of kids doing a report on Melody Bells, a handbell choir that rang in a church in Orensville Indiana. At least it sounded like that. But I did manage to video tape it and watched it often. I also remember tape recording these bell clips that I had videotaped years ago, so I can listen to them, while I did my artwork.

It was something that inspired me and made me feel good. But the really cool thing I saw was the episode of Disney’s “Tailspin” titled “For whom the bell clangs.” What really blew my mind away was the city of Tinabula that was discovered, as it built entirely of bells and chimes, and worked on harmonics. That sound like an awesome place to be, however there is the giant snake of Clang who sets loose a bunch of red roped thugs and giant beetles to stop anyone in trying to find the great bell. The bell that silences all and defeats Clang. The only thing is that once that bell is rung, all of Tinabula crumbles to pieces and is buried beneath several tons of sand ,and becomes a legend once again. Tons of happy bell memories.