Historic Liberty Bell Gets Its Partial Coating of Protective Wax Renewed
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Liberty Bell received a little "TLC" today, with a process that helps to ensure the national treasure will remain safe for generations to come.
National Park Museum curator Bob Giannini says about 30 years ago, conservators noticed a white build-up on the bell. So they called in the experts from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
"They investigated and found that it was an ammonia byproduct that was giving us the problem," he recalls. "Part of the process is to maintain the bell with a wax coating so that it won't reoccur."
Giannini says that at least once a year, a technician employs a 40-minute process that puts a protective coating of wax on the first eight to ten inches of the interior surface of the bell, inward from the lip.
"He uses a heating device which heats of the old wax and he's able to rub that off and put on the new wax," Giannini tells KYW Newsradio.
Even though the bell hasn't rung since 1846, Giannini says what it stands for is loud and clear:
"Liberty for all people throughout the world."
