Private label bells (was L&J)

[Carl S Zimmerman]

Interesting--what would this practice have been called in its own 
day? Nowadays the marketing types might call it "private 
label"--made by one firm but carrying someone else's name. I've 
documented at least three different instances of this in my area:
L.M.Rumsey & Co., small bells made by J.G.Stuckstede of St.Louis
L.M.Rumsey & Co., large bells made by Henry McShane of Baltimore
N.O.Nelson & Co., one medium bell made by Stuckstede & Bro. of 
St.Louis is the only bell known to carry the Nelson name.
In all cases, the style and shape of the bell are determinative, 
though sometimes there is additional evidence--some large Rumsey 
bells are hung on cast-iron A-frames which carry the McShane name!


At 10:01 +0000 2003/03/24, David Bryant wrote:
> > I thought it was by Petter of Yeovil - the firm who made Diesel Engines?
>
>The Yeovilton tenor does indeed claim to have been cast by Petter, and some
>bells by the same founder claim to be by L&J, and I believe there might be
>some which claim to be by someone else (can someone confirm?). As I
>understand it, it it thought to be unlikely that they were actually cast by
>any of the 'founders' named on the bells.
>
>David