Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit Bells

[Carolyn Whitlock]

Recently I bought a collection of 12 Peter Rabbit Character Bells and I need help identifying them. They were made by the New England Bell Collectors Society and have the characteristic NE on the back. Does anyone know how many were in that series? Have I identified them correctly? Are these bells all silverplate or are the tops pewter and the bottoms silverplate?

Does anyone have any information about the New England Bell Collectors Society? I haven't been able to find anything about them online.

If I have mis-identified any of these characters, please let me know. By the way, the 12th bell is broken and I wasn't able to photograph it. I don't know who that one is, either. I'll find another one in time.

Many thanks,
Carolyn


Peter Rabbit


Benjamin Bunny


Hunka Munca


Jemima Puddleduck


Mrs. Rabbit


Mrs. Ribby


The Tailor of Gloucester


Piglet Bland (Pigling Bland?)


Squirrel Nutkin


Tom Kitten


Tommy Brock

[Betty Wright]

I also have the collection of Beatrix Potter Rabbit Bells but I don't have pictures of all. I think the one you have of the mouse reading is "The Tailor of Gloucester" and the other one is "Mrs. Ribby". If y ou want
I can write the tag infothat came with the bell but it does not describe how it looks. I notice mine need
polishing!!
Betty Wright
DiMarVA Chapter

[Kallie Bell Gal]

Thank you for the pictures and for the names of these Peter Rabbit bells. I have a partial collection--this is outside my usual collecting area, and I have had a hard time getting information about the bells I have. In this part of the country, it may take a LONG time to add to my collection. What is the figure on your twelth bell, and do you have its name? That's one I need, but I don't know what to look for, Thanks!!
sam

[Carolyn Whitlock]

I also have the collection of Beatrix Potter Rabbit Bells but I don't have pictures of all. I think the one you have of the mouse reading is "The Tailor of Gloucester" and the other one is "Mrs. Ribby". If y ou want
I can write the tag infothat came with the bell but it does not describe how it looks. I notice mine need
polishing!!
Betty Wright
DiMarVA Chapter

Dear Betty,

Thanks for taking the time to register and respond to my question! I appreciate knowing who those two bells are. Thanks for your offer to copy the tag info. I didn't even know the bells came with tags! I hate to ask you to go to all that trouble when I probably can find some info about these characters online. I still don't know anything about the maker so if you find something, I would be grateful to hear about it!

Now, regarding the polishing -- I "cheated". I have a jar of Haggerty's liquid silver polish and I dipped each one of these bells in it for a few seconds. They were not badly tarnished so I thought I'd take a chance and it worked well. Then, I wrapped each bell in a piece of silver cloth that I had bought quite a few years ago and put each bell in a snack bag and labeled which bell was in each bag. I made sure the bells were thoroughly dry before I did that. There are probably people who would suggest I let the bells breathe rather than put them in a plastic bag.

Again, thanks for your help!

[Carolyn Whitlock]

Thank you for the pictures and for the names of these Peter Rabbit bells. I have a partial collection--this is outside my usual collecting area, and I have had a hard time getting information about the bells I have. In this part of the country, it may take a LONG time to add to my collection. What is the figure on your twelth bell, and do you have its name? That's one I need, but I don't know what to look for, Thanks!!
sam

Dear Sam,

I'm at the stage of life where I don't want any more silver to polish! However, I saw these bells on ebay for about $25 and thought they would be a good investment because I have a three-year-old granddaughter and I figure these would be good bells to give to her when she gets a little older. We have to cultivate the next generation of bell collectors, you know!

I will have time tomorrow to pull out the 12th bell and try to take a decent picture of it. The figure is very small and it might be difficult to get a clear close-up of it. I suspect it broke because I didn't take enough care with it when I put it into a box with other bells. Shame on me! Live and learn, I guess.

Carolyn

[Carolyn Whitlock]

Here is the Peter Rabbit character from my broken bell:



Can anyone tell me who he is?

Thanks,

[Kallie Bell Gal]

My dear Carolyn,
Thank you soooo much for posting that picture. Whoever he is; he's adorable! I'm beginning to think that there may be more bells in this set than I had first thought. Are you pretty well convinced that there are only 12?
Thanx,
sam

[Carolyn Whitlock]

The set I bought had these twelve bells in it but it would seem there are more. That's part of my frustration. I haven't been able to find out anything about how many there actually are in the entire set nor have I been able to find out anything about the company that made them. I have pretty much decided that the figures on top of the bells are made of pewter.

Thanks for your interest, sam!

Carolyn

[Kallie Bell Gal]

I'm back again! This time I come with two bell character names, but I don't have bells to accompany them. Do you or anyone else know an "Amiable Guinea Pig" or a "Timmy Willy"? Does either of these names go with that cute guy you have pictured? This is what I get for venturing out of my area of comfort. I know little enough about the bells that I collect--I should never dabble in territories of which I have NO knowledge.
More confused than ever,
sam

[Kallie Bell Gal]

It is really bad when I post a reply to my own reply!! I couldn't sleep last night so I did a bit a research. You might want to check this out: Concord Library Oral History Program-Sinclair Weeks . It is rather long--pretty interesting--but you can skip to the fifth prargraph from the end to find that the New England Collectors Society sprang from Reed and Barton. I also found and old auction site that listed an 18 bell set of Beatrix Potter bells from the NE Collectors society. (By the way, it got one bid and sold for $90.) There's more collecting to be done!
Happy hunting,
sam

[Carolyn Whitlock]

BINGO!

Wow, that's wonderful, sam! Thank you so much! These bells look so much like Reed & Barton bells and now I know why! For anyone else who's interested, you can find the article at http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/ ... Weeks.html. The fifth paragraph from the end says:

In 1980 looking for another source of medium-price plated holloware, we acquired The Sheffield Silver Company of New York which was eventually consolidated into Reed & Barton factories in Taunton, but we kept the name and still use it. In 1981 we decided to try out the collectors business á la Franklin Mint. We started up a company called the New England Collectors Society which operated very successfully for a number of years. It is no longer in business. That industry is not as dynamic as it was.

Thanks, again!

[Carolyn Whitlock]

I'm back again! This time I come with two bell character names, but I don't have bells to accompany them. Do you or anyone else know an "Amiable Guinea Pig" or a "Timmy Willy"? Does either of these names go with that cute guy you have pictured? This is what I get for venturing out of my area of comfort. I know little enough about the bells that I collect--I should never dabble in territories of which I have NO knowledge.
More confused than ever,
sam

OK, here's what I have found. I've never heard of "Amiable Guinea Pig" so I googled the name. Here's a picture of a figurine called "'Classic' The Amiable Guinea Pig" from the Beatrix Potter Emporium. Except for the fact that he doesn't have a walking stick, there's no question in my mind but what you are right on the mark with your identification!



Thanks a bunch (of carrots for Peter, that is!)!

[Joan Elliott]

Hi Caroline

If you go to this website .... http://www.peterrabbit.com/index.asp ...
Click on "Play" and the book will open
Close the pop up by clicking on "begin"
Click on "Meet the Characters", the page will turn and then by clicking "Next" you wil be able to see many of the characters.

I think the hedgehog one could be Mrs Tiggywinkle.

The World of Beatrix Potter is a wonderful attraction in the North of England, in a beautiful part of our country called The Lake District. This is the area where Beatrix Potter lived. If I find any more information I'll let you know.

Joan