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Antique cast bronze souvenir California Mission El Camino Real Bell. Designed and cast by the Forbes Foundry of Los Angeles, California- the maker of the El Camino Real highway bells and mission bell souvenirs in the early 1900s.
One side is marked “1915 Panama Exposition”, while the other side is marked “1769 El Camino Real- San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego.”
4\" Height
3 1/4\" Width
The Panama–California Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California, between January 1, 1915, and January 1, 1917. The exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, and was meant to tout San Diego as the first U.S. port of call for ships traveling north after passing westward through the canal. The fair was held in San Diego\'s large urban Balboa Park.
At midnight (in San Diego) on December 31, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson ceremoniously pushed a telegraph button in Washington, D.C. to open the expo by turning on the power and lights at the park. In addition, a lit balloon located 1,500 feet above the park further brightened the exposition. Guns at the nearby Fort Rosecrans and on Navy ships in San Diego Bay also were fired to signal the opening.
Admission for adults was $0.50 ($12 today) and $0.25 ($6 today) for children. Based on varying sources, the opening day\'s attendance was between 31,836 and 42,486. By the end of the first month, daily attendance decreased, with an average number of guests at 4,783 a day, which decreased to 4,360 by February. However, in April 1915 it was announced that the expo had already resulted in a $40,000 ($990,658 today) profit for the first three months. By May, the average daily attendance had increased to 5,800 and in July the total attendance had reached a million visitors.
