Last American bell manufacturer celebrates iconic movie

I have been waiting for this story. If you know me, you know I love classic films, and I really love the holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life, which turns 80 this year. If you've seen it, you know exactly the scene we're about to talk about. The bell on the Christmas tree rings. The little girl says, every time a bell rings, dot, dot, dot. You know where that's going. Well, a company called Bevin Bells made that bell decades ago. Today, they are the only remaining bell manufacturer in the United States. This is fascinating. So let's get out to Kaylee Schuyler live in East Hampton, Connecticut right now. And this is amazing. Tell me about this story and where you are, Kaylee. Yeah, it really is so cool. Right now I am standing on the manufacturing floor of the historic Bevin Bells where around 25 employees are still turning out more than half a million bells every single year. And to this day, every year, they still make thousands of their It's a Wonderful Life bells. But this year they have a new one. Come on. We opened and closed the New York Stock Exchange for seven decades. That was a Bevin Bell that did that. The Saturday Night Live skit that's so famous, gotta have more cowbell with Will Ferrell. That was a Bevin Bell. But perhaps their most famous bell of all is the one from It's a Wonderful Life. At the end of the movie, when the bell rings on the tree and Clarence gets his wings, that was a Bevin Bell. This year, the company will make thousands of them, along with the new official collector's bell for the biopic Jimmy that released last week. As part of that 80th anniversary, they created a biopic of Jimmy Stewart making the movie. He really credits the making of that movie with saving his life. So we worked with the producers this year to create a... A commemorative bell for the Jimmy movie that contains one of our wonderful life bells. Bevin Bells was founded back in 1832 by four brothers. And at that time, there were only 20 bell manufacturers in this town alone. Nearly two centuries later, Bevin is the only one left in the entire country. G.C. Bevin, a sixth generation owner of the small family business, took me on a tour of the facility and she explained how they turn a flat piece of metal into a finished bell in about a month's time. And yeah, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of steps by hand. Each bell might be handled eight, nine or more times in order to make that bell. Some bells maybe as much as 12 different times. All of the bells are made and shipped from this East Hampton connect Connecticut excuse me facility to customers all over the entire world. Paul. All right. Kaylee Schuyler. I'm going to DM you my address. I will Venmo you. I need one of those bells. Okay. I need one. Okay. Do it. Yes. Got it. All right. Well happy happy early holidays to you. That's a great story. We'll see you soon.