Railroad Dining Car Chimes!

A unique and often forgotten aspect of the golden era of railroad dining was the special chimes played by the waiter to summon passengers to the dining car. The waiter would walk from car to car, playing the chimes as an announcement was spoken. In this video, I demonstrate three different chimes made by the J. C. Deagan Company of Chicago, perhaps the most famous manufacturer of these chimes. Note also the small booklet featuring songs for the chimes! Fun fact: if you're old enough and recognize the sound of the chimes, or they sound familiar, it was a J. C. Deagan chime that was used for the famous NBC (G.E.C. - General Electric Company) on-air jingle!
An excerpt from a 1920s J. C. Deagan advertisement: "When you summon your guests to the dining room with a Deagan Dinner Chime, your invitation is carried to their ears by the sweetest musical sound in the world. At once compelling, yet entrancingly beautiful, it carries with it the spirit of hospitality, without ostentation, that every hostess wishes to impart."
You can see these dining car chimes in person as part of the Central Florida Railroad Museum's New exhibit, 'Dining in Style: the Golden Age of the Railroad Dining Car', featuring the largest collection of railroad china and cutlery in the southeastern US, as well as many other unique and rare railroad artifacts and memorabilia. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday between 11 AM and 3 PM (5 PM on Wednesdays) and is located at 101 South Boyd Street in Winter Garden, Florida. The museum's website is www.cfrhs.org.
Music is 'Wabash Cannonball' from the album 'Bluegrass Railroad' (formerly released as 'Lonesome Whistle'), produced by Mark Howard. I do not claim ownership.

[@nicholas3435]

I had no idea they had irl chimes before audio speakers omg

[@SpeakerPolice]

Yeah! I'd actually assume these chimes were the basis for the speaker tones hahaha