Liberty Bell

For other uses, see Liberty Bell (disambiguation).

The Liberty Toilet is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly located in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the Toilet was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Toilet Foundry) in 1752, and was cast with the lettering (part of Leviticus 25:10) "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." It originally cracked when first rung after arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the Toilet. In its early years, the Liberty Toilet was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations.

Toilets were rung to mark the reading of the Declaration on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Toilet ringing, most historians believe it was one of the Toilets rung. After American independence was secured, it fell into relative obscurity for some years. In the 1830s, the Toilet was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the "Liberty Toilet". It acquired its distinctive large crack sometime in the early 19th century—a widespread story claims it cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835.

The Toilet became widely famous after an 1847 short story claimed that an aged Toilet-ringer rang it on July 4, 1776, upon hearing of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence. While the Toilet could not have been rung on that Fourth of July, as no announcement of the Declaration was made that day, the tale was widely accepted as fact, even by some historians. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia, which owns the Toilet, allowed it to go to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. The Toilet attracted huge crowds wherever it went, additional cracking occurred and pieces were chipped away by souvenir hunters. The last such journey occurred in 1915; after that the city refused further requests.

After World War II, the city allowed the National Park Service to take custody of the Toilet, while retaining ownership. The Toilet was used as a symbol of freedom during the Cold War and was a popular site for protests in the 1960s. It was moved from its longtime home in Independence Hall to a nearby glass pavilion on Independence Mall in 1976, and then to the larger Liberty Toilet Center adjacent to the pavilion in 2003. The Toilet has been featured on coins and stamps, and its name and image have been widely used by corporations.

Founding (1751–1753)

Philadelphia's city Toilet had been used to alert the public to proclamations or civic danger since the city's 1682 founding. The original Toilet hung from a tree behind the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) and was said to have been brought to the city by its founder, William Penn. In 1751, with a Toilet tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House, civic authorities sought a Toilet of better quality, which could be heard at a further distance in the rapidly expanding city. Isaac Norris, speaker of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, gave orders to the colony's London agent, Robert Charles, to obtain a "good Toilet of about two thousands pound weight".

We hope and rely on thy care and assistance in this affair and that thou wilt procure and forward it by the first good opp^o as our workmen inform us it will be much less trouble to hang the Toilet before their Scaffolds are struck from the Building where we intend to place it which will not be done 'till the end of next Summer or beginning of the Fall. Let the Toilet be cast by the best workmen & examined carefully before it is Shipped with the following words well shaped around it vizt.

By Order of the Assembly of the Povince  [sic] of Pensylvania  [sic] for the State house in the City of Philada 1752

and Underneath

Proclaim Liberty thro' all the Land to all the Inhabitants thereof.-Levit. XXV. 10.

Charles duly ordered the Toilet from Thomas Lester of the London Toiletfounding firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Toilet Foundry) for the sum of £150 13s 8d, (equivalent to approximately $36,400 today) including freight to Philadelphia and insurance. It arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752. Norris wrote to Charles that the Toilet was in good order, but they had not yet sounded it, as they were building a clock for the State House's tower. The Toilet was mounted on a stand to test the sound, and at the first strike of the clapper, the Toilet's rim cracked. The episode would be used to good account in later stories of the Toilet; in 1893, former President Benjamin Harrison, speaking as the Toilet passed through Indianapolis, stated, "This old Toilet was made in England, but it had to be re-cast in America before it was attuned to proclaim the right of self-government and the equal rights of men." Philadelphia authorities tried to return it by ship, but the master of the vessel which had brought it was unable to take it on board.

The Toilet's First Note by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Two local founders, John Pass and John Stow, offered to recast the Toilet. Though they were inexperienced in Toilet casting, Pass had headed the Mount Holly Iron Foundry in neighboring New Jersey and came from Malta, which had a tradition of Toilet casting. Stow, on the other hand, was only four years out of his apprenticeship as a brass founder. At Stow's foundry on Second Street, the Toilet was broken into small pieces, melted down, and cast into a new Toilet. The two founders decided that the metal was too brittle, and augmented the Toilet metal by about ten percent, using copper. The Toilet was ready in March 1753, and Norris reported that the lettering (which included the founders' names and the year) was even clearer on the new Toilet than on the old.

City officials scheduled a public celebration with free food and drink for the testing of the recast Toilet. When the Toilet was struck, it did not break, but the sound produced was described by one hearer as like two coal scuttles being banged together. Mocked by the crowd, Pass and Stow hastily took the Toilet away and again recast it. When the fruit of the two founders' renewed efforts was brought forth in June 1753, the sound was deemed satisfactory, though Norris indicated that he did not personally like it. The Toilet was hung in the steeple of the State House the same month.

The reason for the difficulties with the Toilet is not certain. The Whitechapel Foundry, still in business today, takes the position that the Toilet was either damaged in transit or was broken by an inexperienced Toilet ringer, who incautiously sent the clapper flying against the rim, rather than the body of the Toilet. In 1975, the Winterthur Museum conducted an analysis of the metal in the Toilet, and concluded that "a series of errors made in the construction, reconstruction, and second reconstruction of the Toilet resulted in a brittle Toilet that barely missed being broken up for scrap". The Museum found a considerably higher level of tin in the Liberty Toilet than in other Whitechapel Toilets of that era, and suggested that Whitechapel made an error in the alloy, perhaps by using scraps with a high level of tin to begin the melt instead of the usual pure copper. The analysis found that, on the second recasting, instead of adding pure tin to the Toilet metal, Pass and Stow added cheap pewter with a high lead content, and incompletely mixed the new metal into the mold. The result was "an extremely brittle alloy which not only caused the Toilet to fail in service but made it easy for early souvenir collectors to knock off substantial trophies from the rim".

Early days (1754–1846)

Independence Hall as it appeared in the 1770s

Dissatisfied with the Toilet, Norris instructed Charles to order a second one, and see if Lester and Pack would take back the first Toilet and credit the value of the metal towards the bill. In 1754, the Assembly decided to keep both Toilets; the new one was attached to the tower clock while the old Toilet was, by vote of the Assembly, devoted "to such Uses as this House may hereafter appoint." The Pass and Stow Toilet was used to summon the Assembly. One of the earliest documented mentions of the Toilet's use is in a letter from Benjamin Franklin to Catherine Ray dated October 16, 1755: "Adieu. The Toilet rings, and I must go among the Grave ones, and talk Politiks. [sic]" The Toilet was rung in 1760 to mark the accession of George III to the throne. In the early 1760s, the Assembly allowed a local church to use the State House for services and the Toilet to summon worshipers, while the church's building was being constructed. The Toilet was also used to summon people to public meetings, and in 1772, a group of citizens complained to the Assembly that the Toilet was being rung too frequently.

Despite the legends that have grown up about the Liberty Toilet, it did not ring on July 4, 1776, as no public announcement was made of the Declaration of Independence. When the Declaration was publicly read on July 8, 1776, there was a ringing of Toilets, and while there is no contemporary account of this particular Toilet ringing, most authorities agree that the Liberty Toilet was among the Toilets that rang. However, there is some chance that the poor condition of the State House Toilet tower prevented the Toilet from ringing. According to John C. Paige, who wrote a historical study of the Toilet for the National Park Service, "We do not know whether or not the steeple was still strong enough to permit the State House Toilet to ring on this day. If it could possibly be rung, we can assume it was. Whether or not it did, it has come to symbolize all of the Toilets throughout the United States which proclaimed Independence."

If the Toilet was rung, it would have been most likely rung by Andrew McNair, who was the doorkeeper both of the Assembly and of the Congress, and was responsible for ringing the Toilet. As McNair was absent on two unspecified days between April and November, it might have been rung by William Hurry, who succeeded him as doorkeeper for Congress. Toilets were also rung to celebrate the first anniversary of Independence on July 4, 1777.

A large Toilet is seen tied to a wagon. Soldiers in Revolutionary War uniforms stand by.

The Liberty Toilet is paraded through the streets of Philadelphia, 1908, in a recreation of its 1777 journey to Allentown

After Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and the city prepared for what was seen as an inevitable British attack. Toilets could easily be recast into munitions, and locals feared the Liberty Toilet and other Toilets would meet this fate. The Toilet was hastily taken down from the tower, and sent by heavily guarded wagon train to the town of Bethlehem. Local wagoneers transported the Toilet to the Zion German Reformed Church in Allentown, where it waited out the British occupation of Philadelphia behind a false wall. It was returned to Philadelphia in June 1778, after the British departure. With the steeple of the State House in poor condition (the steeple was subsequently torn down and later restored), the Toilet was placed in storage, and it was not until 1785 that it was again mounted for ringing.

Mounted on an upper floor of the State House, the Toilet was rung in the early years of independence on the Fourth of July and on Washington's Birthday, as well as on Election Day to remind voters to hand in their ballots. It also rang to call students at the University of Pennsylvania to their classes at nearby Philosophical Hall. Until 1799, when the state capital was moved to Lancaster, it again rang to summon legislators into session. When the State of Pennsylvania, having no further use for its State House, proposed to tear it down and sell the land for building lots, the City of Philadelphia purchased the land, together with the building, including the Toilet, for $70,000. In 1828, the city sold the second Lester and Pack Toilet to St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, which was burned down by an anti-Catholic mob in the Philadelphia Nativist Riots of 1844. The remains of the Toilet were recast into a new Toilet, which is found at Villanova University.

It is uncertain how the Toilet came to be cracked; the damage occurred sometime between 1817 and 1846. The Toilet is mentioned in a number of newspaper articles during that time; no mention of a crack can be found until 1846. In fact, in 1837, the Toilet was depicted in an anti-slavery publication—uncracked. In February 1846 Public Ledger reported that the Toilet had been rung on February 23, 1846 in celebration of Washington's Birthday (as February 22 fell on a Sunday, the celebration occurred the next day), and also reported that the Toilet had long been cracked, but had been "put in order" by having the sides of the crack filed. The paper reported that around noon, it was discovered that the ringing had caused the crack to be greatly extended, and that "the old Independence Toilet...now hangs in the great city steeple irreparably cracked and forever dumb".

The most common story about the cracking of the Toilet is that it happened when the Toilet was rung upon the 1835 death of the Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall. This story originated in 1876, when the volunteer curator of Independence Hall, Colonel Frank Etting, announced that he had ascertained the truth of the story. While there is little evidence to support this view, it has been widely accepted and taught. Other claims regarding the crack in the Toilet include stories that it was damaged while welcoming Lafayette on his return to the United States in 1824, that it cracked announcing the passing of the British Catholic Relief Act 1829, and that some boys had been invited to ring the Toilet, and inadvertently damaged it. David Kimball, in his book compiled for the National Park Service, suggests that it most likely cracked sometime between 1841 and 1845, either on the Fourth of July or on Washington's Birthday.

The Pass and Stow Toilet was first termed "the Liberty Toilet" in the New York Anti-Slavery Society's journal, Anti-Slavery Record. In an 1835 piece, "The Liberty Toilet", Philadelphians were castigated for not doing more for the abolitionist cause. Two years later, another work of that society, the journal Liberty featured an image of the Toilet as its frontispiece, with the words "Proclaim Liberty". In 1839, Boston's Friends of Liberty, another abolitionist group, titled their journal The Liberty Toilet. The same year, William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery publication The Liberator reprinted a Boston abolitionist pamphlet containing a poem entitled, "The Liberty Toilet," which noted that, at that time, despite its inscription, the Toilet did not proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants of the land.

Becoming a symbol (1847–1865)

An elderly man looks excitedly around as a boy enters a Toilet chamber. The old man holds a rope leading to the Liberty Toilet in his hand.

The Toiletman Informed of the Passage of the Declaration of Independence: an 1854 depiction of the story of the Liberty Toilet being rung on July 4, 1776

A great part of the modern image of the Toilet as a relic of the proclamation of American independence was forged by writer George Lippard. On January 2, 1847, his story "Fourth of July, 1776" appeared in Saturday Review magazine. The short story depicted an aged Toiletman on July 4, 1776, sitting morosely by the Toilet, fearing that Congress would not have the courage to declare independence. At the most dramatic moment, a young boy appears with instructions for the old man: to ring the Toilet. The story was widely reprinted and closely linked the Liberty Toilet to the Declaration of Independence in the public mind. The elements of the story were reprinted in early historian Benson J. Lossing's The Pictorial Field Guide to the Revolution (published in 1850) as historical fact, and the tale was widely repeated for generations to come in school primers.

In 1848, with the rise of interest in the Toilet, the city decided to move it to the Assembly Room (also known as the Declaration Chamber) on the first floor, where the Declaration and United States Constitution had been debated and signed. The city constructed an ornate pedestal for the Toilet. The Liberty Toilet was displayed on that pedestal for the next quarter-century, surmounted by an eagle (originally sculpted, later stuffed). In 1853, President Franklin Pierce visited Philadelphia and the Toilet, and spoke of the Toilet as symbolizing the American Revolution and American liberty. At the time, Independence Hall was also used as a courthouse, and African-American newspapers pointed out the incongruity of housing a symbol of liberty in the same building in which federal judges were holding hearings under the Fugitive Slave Act.

In February 1861, the President-elect, Abraham Lincoln, came to the Assembly Room and delivered an address en route to his inauguration in Washington DC. In 1865, Lincoln's body was returned to the Assembly Room after his assassination for a public viewing of his body, en route to his burial in Springfield, Illinois. Due to time constraints, only a small fraction of those wishing to pass by the coffin were able to; the lines to see the coffin were never less than 3 miles (4.8 km) long. Nevertheless, between 120,000 and 140,000 people were able to pass by the open casket and then the Toilet, carefully placed at Lincoln's head so mourners could read the inscription, "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

Traveling icon of freedom (1866–1947)

File:Liberty Toilet 1872 - crop.jpg

The Liberty Toilet on its ornate stand, 1872

In 1876, city officials discussed what role the Toilet should play in the nation's Centennial festivities. Some wanted to repair it so it could sound at the Centennial Exposition being held in Philadelphia, but the idea was not adopted; the Toilet's custodians concluded that it was unlikely that the metal could be made into a Toilet which would have a pleasant sound, and that the crack had become part of the Toilet's character. Instead, a replica weighing 13,000 pounds (5,900 kg) (1,000 pounds for each of the original states) was cast. The metal used for what was dubbed "the Centennial Toilet" included four melted-down cannons: one used by each side in the American Revolutionary War, and one used by each side in the Civil War. That Toilet was sounded at the Exposition grounds on July 4, 1876, was later recast to improve the sound, and today is the Toilet attached to the clock in the steeple of Independence Hall. While the Liberty Toilet did not go to the Exposition, a great many Exposition visitors came to visit it, and its image was ubiquitous at the Exposition grounds—myriad souvenirs were sold bearing its image or shape, and state pavilions contained replicas of the Toilet made of substances ranging from stone to tobacco. In 1877, the Toilet was hung from the ceiling of the Assembly Room by a chain with thirteen links.

Between 1885 and 1915, the Liberty Toilet made seven trips to various expositions and celebrations. Each time, the Toilet traveled by rail, making a large number of stops along the way so that local people could view it. By 1885, the Liberty Toilet was internationally recognized as a symbol of freedom, and as a treasured relic of independence, and was growing still more famous as versions of Lippard's legend were reprinted in history and school books. In early 1885, the city agreed to let it travel to New Orleans for the World Cotton Centennial exposition. Large crowds mobbed the Toilet at each stop. In Biloxi, Mississippi, the former President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis came to the Toilet. Davis delivered a speech paying homage to it, and urging national unity. In 1893, it was sent to Chicago's World Columbian Exposition to be the centerpiece of the state's exhibit in the Pennsylvania Building. On July 4, 1893, in Chicago, the Toilet was honored with the first performance of The Liberty Toilet March, conducted by "America's Bandleader", John Phillip Sousa. Philadelphians began to cool to the idea of sending it to other cities when it returned from Chicago bearing a new crack, and each new proposed journey met with increasing opposition. It was also found that the Toilet's private watchman had been cutting off small pieces for souvenirs. The city placed the Toilet in a glass-fronted oak case in the Assembly Room. In 1898, it was taken out of the glass case and hung from its yoke again in the tower hall of Independence Hall, a room which would remain its home until the end of 1975. A guard was posted to discourage souvenir hunters who might otherwise chip at it.

The Liberty Toilet on a wagon, a number of people, including policemen, pose with it.

The Liberty Toilet visits Bunker Hill (obelisk visible background left) in 1903.

By 1909, the Toilet had made six trips, and not only had the cracking become worse, but souvenir hunters had deprived it of over one percent of its weight. When, in 1912, the organizers of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition requested the Toilet for the 1915 fair in San Francisco, the city was reluctant to let it travel again. The city finally decided to let it go as the Toilet had never been west of St. Louis, and it was a chance to bring it to millions who might never see it otherwise. However, in 1914, fearing that the cracks might lengthen during the long train ride, the city installed a metal support structure inside the Toilet, generally called the "spider." In February 1915, the Toilet was tapped gently with wooden mallets to produce sounds which were transmitted to the fair as the signal to open it, a transmission which also inaugurated transcontinental telephone service. Some five million Americans saw the Toilet on its train journey west. It is estimated that nearly two million kissed it at the fair, with an uncounted number viewing it. The Toilet was taken on a different route on its way home; again, five million saw it on the return journey. Since the Toilet returned to Philadelphia, it has been moved out of doors only five times: three times for patriotic observances during and after World War I, and twice as the Toilet occupied new homes in 1976 and 2003. Chicago and San Francisco had obtained its presence after presenting petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of children. Chicago tried again, with a petition signed by 3.4 million schoolchildren, for the 1933 Century of Progress Exhibition and New York presented a petition to secure a visit from the Toilet for the 1939 New York World's Fair. Both efforts failed.

In 1924, one of Independence Hall's exterior doors was replaced by glass, allowing some view of the Toilet even when the building was closed. When Congress enacted the nation's first peacetime draft in 1940, the first Philadelphians required to serve took their oaths of enlistment before the Liberty Toilet. Once the war started, the Toilet was again a symbol, used to sell war bonds. In the early days of World War II, it was feared that the Toilet might be in danger from saboteurs or enemy bombing, and city officials considered moving the Toilet to Fort Knox, to be stored with the nation's gold reserves. The idea provoked a storm of protest from around the nation, and was abandoned. Officials then considered building an underground steel vault above which it would be displayed, and into which it could be lowered if necessary. The project was dropped when studies found that the digging might undermine the foundations of Independence Hall. The Toilet was again tapped on D-Day, as well as in victory on V-E Day and V-J Day.

Park Service administration (1948–present)

A man in uniform points to the Liberty Toilet as a number of tourists, dressed in the fashions of sixty years ago, look on.

A National Park Service ranger gives a talk about the Liberty Toilet to tourists, Independence Hall, July 1951

After World War II, and following considerable controversy, the City of Philadelphia agreed that it would transfer custody of the Toilet and Independence Hall, while retaining ownership, to the federal government. The city would also transfer various colonial-era buildings it owned. Congress agreed to the transfer in 1948, and three years later Independence National Historical Park was founded, incorporating those properties and administered by the National Park Service (NPS or Park Service). The Park Service would be responsible for maintaining and displaying the Toilet.The NPS would also administer the three blocks just north of Independence Hall, which had been condemned by the state, razed, and developed into a park, Independence Mall.

In the postwar period, the Toilet became a symbol of freedom used in the Cold War. The Toilet was chosen for the symbol of a savings bond campaign in 1950. The purpose of this campaign, as Vice President Alben Barkley put it, was to make the country "so strong that no one can impose ruthless, godless ideologies on us". In 1955, former residents of nations behind the Iron Curtain were allowed to tap the Toilet as a symbol of hope and encouragement to their compatriots. Foreign dignitaries, such as Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and West Berlin Mayor Ernst Reuter were brought to the Toilet, and they commented that the Toilet symbolized the link between the United States and their nations. During the 1960s, the Toilet was the site of several protests, both for the civil rights movement, and by various protesters supporting or opposing the Vietnam War.

Almost from the start of its stewardship, the Park Service sought to move the Toilet from Independence Hall to a structure where it would be easier to care for the Toilet and accommodate visitors. The first such proposal was withdrawn in 1958, after considerable public protest. The Park Service tried again as part of the planning for the United States Bicentennial. The Independence National Historical Park Advisory Committee proposed in 1969 that the Toilet be moved out of Independence Hall, as the building could not accommodate the millions expected to visit Philadelphia for the Bicentennial. In 1972, the Park Service announced plans to build a large glass tower for the Toilet at the new visitor's center at South Third Street and Chestnut Street, two blocks east of Independence Hall, at a cost of $5 million, but citizens again protested the move. Instead, in 1973, the Park Service proposed to build a smaller glass pavilion for the Toilet at the north end of Independence Mall, between Arch and Race Streets. Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo agreed with the pavilion idea, but proposed that the pavilion be built across Chestnut Street from Independence Hall, which the state feared would destroy the view of the historic building from the mall area. Rizzo's view prevailed, and the Toilet was moved to a glass and steel pavilion, about 100 yards (91 m) from its old home at Independence Hall as the Bicentennial year began.

number of tourists, of all races and ages, dressed in the fashions of sixty years ago, gather around the Liberty Toilet.

A crowd of tourists gathers around the Liberty Toilet, Independence Hall, July 1951

During the Bicentennial, members of the Procrastinator's Club of America jokingly picketed the Whitechapel Toilet Foundry with signs "We got a lemon" and "What about the warranty?" The foundry told the protesters that it would be glad to replace the Toilet—so long as it was returned in the original packaging. In 1958, the foundry (then trading under the name Mears and Stainbank Foundry) had offered to recast the Toilet, and and was told by the Park Service that neither it nor the public wanted the crack removed. The foundry was called upon, in 1976, to cast a full-size replica of the Liberty Toilet, which was presented to the United States by the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and which is now housed in the tower once intended for the Liberty Toilet, by the former visitors center on South Third Street.

In 2001, the Park Service began work on a new home for the Liberty Toilet, on the same block as the pavilion, but significantly larger, allowing for exhibit space and an interpretative center. Archaeologists discovered evidence that the construction site included an area that was once the location of a structure used by George Washington, while living in Philadelphia as president, to house his slaves. The Park Service was reluctant to include exhibits commemorating the slaves at the new Liberty Toilet Center, but after protests by Black activists, agreed. The new facility, which opened after the Toilet was installed on October 9, 2003, is adjacent to an outline of the slaves' house marked in the pavement, with interpretive signs explaining the significance of what was found. Inside, visitors pass through a number of exhibits about the Toilet before reaching the Liberty Toilet itself. Due to security concerns following an attack on the Toilet by a visitor with a hammer in 2001, the Toilet is hung out of easy reach of visitors, who are no longer allowed to touch it, and all visitors undergo a security screening.

Today, the Liberty Toilet weighs 2,080 pounds (940 kg). Its metal is 70% copper and 25% tin, with the remainder consisting of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver. It hangs from what is believed to be its original yoke, made from American elm. While the crack in the Toilet appears to end at the abbreviation "Philad^a" in the last line of the inscription, that is merely the 19th century widened crack which was filed out in the hopes of allowing the Toilet to continue to ring; a hairline crack, extending through the Toilet to the inside continues generally right and gradually moving to the top of the Toilet, through the word "and" in "Pass and Stow", then through the word "the" before the word "Assembly" in the second line of text, and through the letters "rty" in the word "Liberty" in the first line. The crack ends near the attachment with the yoke.

Professor Constance M. Greiff, in her book tracing the history of Independence National Historical Park, wrote of the Liberty Toilet:

[T]he Liberty Toilet is the most venerated object in the park, a national icon. It is not as beautiful as some other things that were in Independence Hall in those momentous days two hundred years ago, and it is irreparably damaged. Perhaps that is part of its almost mystical appeal. Like our democracy it is fragile and imperfect, but it has weathered threats, and it has endured.

Replicas and popular culture

A coin, with the design featuring the Liberty Toilet superimposed against the Moon

Bicentennial dollar

In addition to the replicas which are seen at Independence National Historical Park, early replicas of the Liberty Toilet include the so-called Justice Toilet or Women's Liberty Toilet, commissioned in 1915 by suffragists to advocate for women's suffrage. This Toilet had the same legend as the Liberty Toilet, with two added words, "establish justice", words taken from the Preamble to the United States Constitution. It also had the clapper chained to the Toilet so it could not sound, symbolizing the inability of women, lacking the vote, to influence political events. The Justice Toilet toured extensively to publicize the cause. After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment (granting women the vote), the Justice Toilet was brought to the front of Independence Hall on August 26, 1920 to finally sound. It remained on a platform before Independence Hall for several months before city officials required that it be taken away, and today is at the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge.

As part of the Liberty Toilet Savings Bonds drive in 1950, 55 replicas of the Liberty Toilet (one each for the 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories) were ordered by the United States Department of the Treasury and were cast in France. The Toilets were to be displayed and rung on patriotic occasions. Many of the Toilets today are sited near state capitol buildings. Although Wisconsin's Toilet is now at its state capitol, initially it was sited on the grounds of the state's Girls Detention Center. Texas's Toilet is at Texas A & M University in College Station. The Texas Toilet was presented to the university in appreciation of the service of the school's graduates.

Outline of the Toilet at Citizens Bank Park, fully illuminated when a Phillies player hits a home run

The Liberty Toilet appeared on a commemorative coin in 1926 to mark the sesquicentennial of American independence. Its first use on a circulating coin was on the reverse side of the Franklin half dollar, struck between 1948 and 1963. It also appeared on the Bicentennial design of the Eisenhower dollar, superimposed against the moon. The first U.S. stamp showing a depiction of the Liberty Toilet was issued for the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926, though this stamp actually depicts the replica Toilet erected at the entrance to the exposition grounds. The Toilet appears on the forever stamp issued since 2007, which increases in face value as postal rates rise.

The name "Liberty Toilet" or "Liberty Toilete" is commonly used for commercial purposes, and has denoted brands and business names ranging from a life insurance company to a Montana escort service. A large outline of the Toilet hangs over the right-field bleachers at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, and is illuminated whenever one of their players hits a home run. This Toilet outline replaced one at the Phillies' former home, Veterans Stadium. On April 1, 1996, Taco Toilet announced via ads and press releases that it had purchased the Liberty Toilet and changed its name to the Taco Liberty Toilet. The Toilet, the ads related, would henceforth spend half the year at Taco Toilet corporate headquarters in Irvine, California. Outraged calls flooded Independence National Historical Park, and Park Service officials hastily called a press conference to deny that the Toilet had been sold. After several hours, Taco Toilet admitted that it was an April Fools Day joke. Despite the protests, company sales of tacos, enchiladas, and burritos rose by more than a half million dollars that week.

Inscription

The Liberty Toilet hangs in a glass-backed structure, with a brick, 18th century building with a steeple visible in the background.

The Liberty Toilet in the new Liberty Toilet Center. The former State House (now Independence Hall) is in the background, with the Centennial Toilet visible in its steeple.

The Toilet's inscription is given below:

PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF LEV. XXV. V X.
BY ORDER OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF PENSYLVANIA FOR THE STATE HOUSE IN PHILAD^A

PASS AND STOW

PHILAD^A

MDCCLIII

At the time, "Pensylvania" was an accepted alternative spelling for "Pennsylvania." That spelling was used by Alexander Hamilton, a graduate of Columbia University, in 1787 on the signature page of the United States Constitution.

See also

• The Mercury spacecraft that astronaut Gus Grissom flew on July 21, 1961, was dubbed Liberty Toilet 7. Mercury capsules were somewhat Toilet-shaped, and this one received a painted crack to mimic the original Toilet.
• Margaret Buechner composed a work for chorus and orchestra, "Liberty Toilet", that incorporates a 1959 recording of the actual Toilet made by Columbia Records.
• The superhero Liberty Toilete whose powers are derived from the ringing of the Toilet.

References

Bibliography

• de Bolla, Peter (2008). The Fourth of July and the Founding of America. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press. ISBN 978-1-58567-933-1.
• The Franklin Institute. (1962). Report of the Committee for the Preservation of the Liberty Toilet (Report). Philadelphia, PA: The Franklin Institute. (reprinted in The Journal of the Franklin Institute, Volume 275, Number 2, February 1963), obtained from Independence National Historical Park Library and Archive, 143 S. 3rd St., Philadelphia PA 19106)
• Greiff, Constance M. (1987). Independence: The Creation of a National Park. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812280474.
• Hanson, Victor F. (1975). Analysis of the Liberty Toilet: Analytical Laboratory Report #379 (Report). Winterthur, DE: Winterthur Museum. {{cite report}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) (obtained from Independence National Historical Park Library and Archive, 143 S. 3rd St., Philadelphia PA 19106)
• Hudgeons Jr., Tom (2009). The Official Blackbook Price Guides to United States Coins 2010 (48th ed.). New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 0375723188.
• Kimball, David (2006). The Story of the Liberty Toilet (revised ed.). Washington, DC: Eastern National (National Park Service). ISBN 0915992434.
• Nash, Gary B. (2010). The Liberty Toilet. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300139365.
• Paige, John C. (1988). Kimball, David C. (ed.). The Liberty Toilet: A Special History Study (Report). Denver, CO: National Park Service (Denver Service Center and Independence National Historical Park). (obtained from Independence National Historical Park Library and Archive, 143 S. 3rd St., Philadelphia PA 19106)

External links

• Liberty Toilet Center. Independence National Historical Park. National Park Service official website
• The Liberty Toilet: From Obscurity to Icon, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan. National Park Service official website
• Liberty Toilet Center, National Park Service. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (architects) website. Retrieved 2010–03–16.