Chimes and Carillon in Downtown Memphis
by Joe Lowry
Six years after the end of World War I the Memphis Memorial Chimes Association began a campaign to install chimes in a downtown building to honor the lives of Memphians who served and those who died in the war.
The Chimes Association considered several sites before choosing the Columbian Mutual Towers as the best location for the chimes. Lloyd T. Binford, president of the Columbian Mutual Insurance Company, provided the $2,000 needed to reinforce the building’s top floor for the 16-ton chimes.
The chimes were built and sold by the J.C. Deagen Company of Chicago, which declared the tones perfect. The chimes and the keyboard (“as easy to operate as a piano”) were installed on the 14th floor during the first week of April 1924. A bronze memorial tablet was placed at the building’s entrance.
The chimes played at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. every day.
The Memphis Memorial Chimes Association realized at the end of 1925 that the chimes needed to be tuned every nine or 10 months. If not, they would be off pitch by one-half to one-and-a-half tones. A tone silencer or dampener was added to the system in January of 1926. An automatic sounding device also was added to the sound of 4 notes every 15 minutes, eight notes on the half hour, and 16 on the hour.
Mrs. E.E. George, wife of Dr. George, a member of the MMCA, performed regular concerts that were remotely broadcast by radio station WMC. At 7:30 p.m. April 15, 1926, Mrs. George played a carillon recital from the towers which was later rebroadcast by WMC radio. Songs played included Last Hope, Aloha, Sweet By and By, Sweet Song, I Need Thee Every Hour, Carry Me Back to Old Virginny, When You and I Were Young, Maggie, and Lead Kindly Light.
Mechanical problems with the chimes arose the following year. When the Memphis Memorial Chimes Association could not come up with money for repairs, Columbian Mutual Insurance President Binford came to the rescue, paying $2,000 for the repairs.
Timbers supporting the heavy chimes started to rot in 1941 and the entire system was sold for scrap, leaving downtown Memphis without its chimes until July of 1948.
The Southern Baptist Convention, in conjunction with First Baptist Church under the direction of Dr. Paul Caudill, gave $3,000, the amount needed to install a modern automated chimes system that could be programmed to play music. Sixteen new 20-inch speakers and a 350-watt amplifier also were installed.
The new electrically amplified automated system played from the top of the 81 Madison building, a location that offered more coverage for selected tunes played at 4:45 and 6:45 p.m. during the week.
On Saturdays chimes played at 8:30 a.m. and 12:45,4:45 and 6:45 p.m. They played once on Sunday, at 9 a.m.
The chimes system was paid for by public subscription, the Chamber of Commerce, the Jaycees and 1st Baptist Church, and the new Business Music Corporation, a group of local businessmen.
The chimes system was struck by lightning in 1967 and was not repaired until December of 1968[1]. By 1975 the chimes were still operating at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. using tapes through 16-inch electric speakers mounted on the smokestack at the 81 Madison Building. The system dated to 1948.[2]
Special Note
Mrs. Ann Huey George (wife of Dr. E.E. George) of 894 University died July 17, 1970. She was a graduate of the New York School of Music and Art and played organ and piano at Temple Baptist Church on Cooper Street. She served as secretary to Fire and Police Commissioner Clifford Davis. Mrs. George played the chimes at the Columbian Mutual Towers for 25 years. She was 87. (Author’s note: Just think of all the Memphians who were touched by her talents.)
Author’s Notes
I can remember being downtown in the late 1950s and hearing the music from 81 Madison Building. I haven’t heard of them in a long time. Perhaps someone else has some information on them.
I wish to thank my friend, historian Skip Howard, for helping me put this material together.
Sources
Memphis Commercial Appeal, January through May 1924. Numerous articles.
Memphis Press Scimitar, May 22 and 25, 1925.
Memphis Press Scimitar, May 22, 1948.
Memphis Commercial Appeal, July 1948.
Memphis Commercial Appeal, December 13, 1968.
Memphis Commercial Appeal, July 17, 1970.
[1] Memphis Commercial Appeal, Dec. 12, 1968.
[2] Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 27, 1975. By William Thomas.