Is this an early wind chime?

[frogpatch]

I found these bells at the same place the mailbox came from. I don't know if they were for letting you know when the door opened or if they are wind catchers. They ring really easily at the slightest motion. They appear to be quite old and hand wrought. I tried as best as I could to get the details in the pictures. Each bell housing measures only 1 1/4 inces long. Te entire piece is only 7 inches top to bottom. As you can see the clappers are made of little rolled cones of sheet iron.

[frogpatch]

While waiting for a reply, I searched a lot more and found one similar example. The owner called it a wind chime.

[mart]

Anyone there raise goats ??

[frogpatch]

A triple goat bell? C'mon really?

[greenacres]

Have you tried it? Are the bells loud? Maybe it's what they used to call for lunch. They would use a stick in the middle. I don't really know. It's a guess. It could be a wind chime. I'll have to look.

[frogpatch]

It makes a high pitched tinkling sound that is quite loud. If we ever open up a store it will make a great door signal

[mart]

A triple goat bell? C'mon really?

LOL !!  Thats my best guess !!!  No clue otherwise !!

[KC]

Have you ever had a goat?  You need to google antique goat bells..... (Not kidding you) 

You need to put a quarter next to a bell and take a pic to give some type of reference to size Please!

[mart]

You mean me ??   Yes, I have had a goat !!  Will never buy another one either !!  Wouldn`t take one if it were free !!  They don`t do well alone !!  They cry !!  And keep you awake !!  But as far as the bells I have seen similarly made bells for that use !! But they were used with a harness and goat cart !!  They have work goats that work as a team in harness,, can you believe that ??

[KC]

OH Mart....not you. Just from what I know of you I figured you had one or had a neighbor with one!  My neighbor has several on their horse farm near us....if they don't cry constantly then they ring those doggone bells constantly!  LOLOL AND their goats have a couple of bells each!!!!!  That way they know where the suckers are at when they are trying to eat over the fences, etc.  THey always try and eat the clothes off of you, etc....

Did you get the comment about the "kidding"?  LOLOL

[mart]

Brain fog again,, just looked while reading your post and thought about that !! LOL

[frogpatch]

KC, in the original description I gave the length of the bell housing as 1 1/4 inches. That would make the diameter of the bells a little smaller than a quarter. By the way the two arms on the sides are affixed in that position.  I would take another picture but I hung it outside as a wind chime and its hard to reach. A three bell goat? Is that a goat ranking like sergeant of the herd? Oh wait! Goats are Naval. Chief Billy Officer? 

[KC]

I guess brain frog is contagious in Texas these days with the 3 digit heat Mart.  Apparently I didn't read it correct either!

[fancypants]

Well , they do look like hand-wrought , so that's a cool thing !

As to it's intended design purpose , clueless here except for ringing a bell or three .
Could be seasonally re-purposed ...

Happy to know that there's members here that are goat-ropers !

[mart]

Have you ever tried to get a loop on one of those slippery little suckers ??  About the time you have it in your site they cut left or right and you are roping air !!