Skip to Main Content

3.5 FRUIT BOWL WITH PURDUE VICTORY BELL, $35.00

Primary Image Report

Image Gallery Report Region

 
Please sign in to add items to your shopping cart.

Asset Detail

3.5 Fruit bowl with Purdue Victory Bell. During the 1940's Victory Bell china was a gift given to Purdue graduates. Per PurdueAlumnus.org, "The Victory Bell was purchased in 1877 and suspended in the old heating plant, where it was manually rung as a summons to class and chapel as well as a general warning bell — at least on those occasions when students hadn’t muffled the clapper or turned it upside down and filled it with water to freeze on cold nights. When construction on a central heating plant began in the early 1900s, the bell was removed to the university’s Locomotive Museum.

In 1904, the bell was mounted on a wagon and drawn through town to toll the news of Purdue’s overwhelming football triumph over Indiana. This celebration became symbolic of athletic victory, and students began repeating the parade after every gridiron conquest. Following the lively processions, the bell was often abandoned by the courthouse in downtown Lafayette. Purdue’s president at the time, Winthrop E. Stone, became irritated by the practice and eventually ordered that the bell be buried in a gravel pit where Hovde Hall now stands. The hidden bell was discovered by the class of 1907, and funds were raised for a new chassis to support it. A special storage house, designed by local architect Charles W. Nicol, was erected in 1916. Originally located by the Stuart Field gate, the bell house was moved to just south of Ross-Ade Stadium in 1939.

The iron mascot’s mettle has been tested over the years, as the clapper and the bell itself have been stolen on numerous occasions; a dead cow was once found draped across the carriage frame as well. In spite of these hardships, the bell’s peal has been joyously heard after various athletic games, during Gala Week, and on Armistice Day in 1918. Today, ringing of the bell is reserved for a home football victory, and the Gimlet Leadership Honorary oversees its guardianship."
S-23-31646-001
$35.00
79 - EACH
KITCHEN EQUIPMENT
KITCHEN EQUIPMENT
Good
10/31/2023
There are no questions and answers for this item.
700 AHLERS DR
INDIANA, IN 47907