The Florida Liberty Bell replica
Rising 345 feet above sea level with 8,436 miles of coastline and a 15-to-1 human-to-alligator ratio, Florida is a bold peninsula stabbing aggressively at the world beyond. A point of entry and a release valve — it’s America to the extreme. From Citrus to Space Shuttles, hanging chads to Jan Hammer, flamingos to theme parks, Tom Petty to Florida Man, the state is full of surprises — yet somehow, nothing’s shocking. When you think of Florida, you don’t think of the Liberty Bell. But the state has one. Every state has one. Florida actually has four Liberty Bells. There’s a water-tower-turned-museum in Melbourne with its own replica. A cemetery in Gotha has one. There’s a Liberty Bell in the center of the most magical place on earth — Walt Disney World. While it’s easy to miss amongst the throngs and thrill rides and daily parades, some 40 million visitors walk past it each year — ten times the number who visit the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. While Disney’s is the world’s most visited Liberty Bell, it’s not Florida’s most storied bell. That honor belongs to the state’s official Liberty Bell in Tallahassee. The story of the Florida Liberty Bell starts 70 years ago in the nation’s capital. In the booming post-war era, the US Treasury rebranded War Bonds as Savings Bonds, reframing their benefit from financing the war effort to preserving our collective independence. Early in 1950, the Treasury sought a campaign theme for their summer Savings Bond drive. With an ambitious $650 million sales goal, the campaign would launch on May 15th and conclude with a bang on the Fourth of July. The 1949 campaign, branded as America’s Opportunity Drive, was a nostalgic nod to the westward migration of 1849. Gronway Parry, the Covered Wagon King, produced 26 covered wagons to be used as promotional vehicles. Festooned with the slogan, Be a Modern ’49’er, the wagons were loaded onto cargo planes and flown across the country, touring hundreds of cities and 30 of the 48 state capitals.

As the war’s end drew near, President Roosevelt sought peacetime applications for wartime inventions, including the bond drive. He requested the council continue their effort during peacetime. Now known as the Ad Council, the group went on to produce such iconic public service campaigns as the Crying Indian, Just Say No, McGruff the Crime Dog, Let’s Move, and Love Has No Labels.
Every advertising campaign comes with its own set of risks. Will your message resonate? Have you saturated the market? Will your investment pay off? At least when it came to money, the Treasury had little to worry about, not because they were in the business of printing money, but because they were very, very good at getting free stuff. By the Treasury’s own 1961 accounting, their bond campaigns benefited from about 50 million dollars a year in pro-bono services from ad agencies and donated media from radio, television, newspapers, magazines, outdoor and transit advertising outlets. That’s $533 million in 2020 dollars. Their figure did not calculate the value of celebrity endorsements or editorial coverage, both of which they reaped in spades. The only hard costs incurred by the Treasury were for the physical artwork files and posters delivered to print outlets and advertisers.








The plaza where the bell rests has been remodeled. The plaque is no longer with the bell (as of Dec 2021).
William,
Thanks for the news. I’ve updated the article. Hopefully the bell remains on display.
Was the bell out though? And where (if it was)? We went in 2020 and the bell was in storage… thanks so much!
Julia,
Thanks for the comment. Sorry you missed the bell. I missed a few in 2020 myself. When I wrote this in January 2020 the bell was in Waller Park, east of the House Office Building. I was in the area in February 2022 and checked with Capitol tour staff who told me the bell was accessible. That might have changed with ongoing construction. I do see a note on the Capitol Construction Closure page saying the Perimeter of Waller Park is fenced off for the duration of the project. Definitely call to confirm accessibility before arranging a visit: (850) 488-6167. And please do let me know what you find out. Happy bell hunting!