Did you know Al Bell?
Monday, January 29, 2007 at 04:16PM I always thought Al Bell had the best job in the world. When I was a little boy growing up on the prairie back in the 1950s and 60s, our small school would bring in an Al Bell Production once a year to give an "assembly" program. This is how I am guessing Mr. Bell made his living. Bell and his wife would take a very nice vacation somewhere exotic each summer. Now in small town Iowa circa 1960, "exotic" might have been interpreted a little differently than it is today. I remember some of the places Al traveled were Calgary in Canada, Mexico, Washington State, and Ireland. Anyway, the Bells would go to a place, take some slides, buy a native costume (the more outlandish the better), and couple music recordings. From these materials, he would spend an hour combining his slides, jokes, dancing, and a touch of mania on a stage in front of 500 delighted elementary school kids (and grateful teachers) in a gym or auditorium, in different schools every day throughout the school year. I'm guessing he charged maybe $50 a show, two shows a day. In the late 50's, working even 50 school days a year would have made him a rather nice income.
Does any one else remember Al Bell? I know he existed since I found reference to his programs in school histories on the web. I remember hearing that his home town may have been Menlo, Iowa. Let me know if you remember an Al Bell production - they always started with a ringing school bell.
I thought of Al Bell because I gave a short talk to my Kiwanis club today on my Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu last November. Heavy on slides, a little trivia (there is a depiction of the Last Supper in the Cuzco Cathedral where guinea pig is being served), and a straight account of the rigors of the hike. It was well received, and I thought, I've finally gotten my chance to be Al Bell!
Sometimes accomplishing the small goals are just as satisfying as accomplishing the big ones.
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Update: May 2008 Thanks so much for all the responses and memories shared. Keep them coming! This photo came to me via blog reader. She attached a Christmas photo of the Bells from about 1958. 
There has been a great interest shown in finding and preserving the films and memorabilia from Al Bell's school programs by those of us who fondly remember him and appreciate the influence he and his wife had on our lives. They infused some wanderlust in many an Iowa farm kid! At some time, I will approach Iowa Public Television or the Iowa Historical Society with the this blog entry and all the interest shown, and hope they will pick up the ball. It may not happen until I retire - a mere 9 years away! In the meantime, if you'd like to leave a comment, sharing you memories of the Bells and leaving information about how family members might be contacted, please do so. Doug
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Update: May 2008
Jim Calkins from West Branch Middle School is working on putting together a list of Bell's topics and schools at which he spoke. If have specific information about either of these things, please e-mail Jim at conn53victor (a) mchsi.com. Thanks!
Here are a some newspaper articles from Wright County and Estherville about Al's visits.
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Update: March 2010
Another Al Bell post here with a link to a Des Moines Register article about the Bells and a Facebook Fan page.
Update: August 2010
An Al Bell Film Festival, Sept 12, 2010 in Stuart, Iowa and a movement to restore his films!
Reader Comments (212)
I remember Al Bell and his wife coming for "Assembly Programs" at Boone Valley School in Renwick, Iowa. I'm not sure the student body was as attentive and respectful as they might have been at times, but still not a bad gig, it would seem.
Hi All,
Thanks for sharing your memories of Al and his wife.
I am hoping that with enough comments like yours, we can get IPTV or the state historical society to do some research and programming on the Bells.
Thanks again and all the best,
Doug
I wonder what suddenly triggers so many folks' memories at similar times?
I don't recall what occurred that made me think of the Bells and the school programs, but I do remember seeing Al and his wife in the Multipurpose Room of my elementary school (Cumberland and Massena Community Schools, Cumberland IA) in the early 1970s.
Thanks for the nostalgia!
Mr. and Mrs. Al Bell's visits were the highpoint of the school year. I still remember the year I was sick and couldn't go to school the day they came.
Can we put together a general calendar of their travels? I remember Kenya (anyone recall the film of the rock studded with rubies that Al couldn't carry back to camp or the Masai drinking blood and milk from their cattle?) and China and Arizona.
Both my husband and I remember the "Al Bell School Assembly Programs."
I grew up in the southern part of the state near Packwood, Iowa and my husband grew up in the north central part of the state near Mason City, Iowa. My favorite program was when the Bell's traveled to China. I remember Al running around in the native costume with a pigtail on the back of his head speaking in Chinese to us kids.
I am surprised IPTV has not aired his programs or made them available on dvd.
I grew up in a small school in west central Iowa in the late 70's and 80's and very much remeber Al & his wife and their presentations, and how excited we were to see them every year. I remeber my Dad & Mom talking about his shows when they where in the same school many years before. How lucky we were to have the opportunity to enjoy this experience and have the memories of such a great couple and their accomplishments in life bringing their travels to us in Iowa. I remeber tthe bongos and the outfits, the music and slide shows. WOW thats been awhile ago. I'm trying to think what year they quit coming and presenting their show, if memory serves correctly I think Al became illl and his son did 1 or 2 of the presentations. I can only wish my children could have had the experience.
Chris
For some reason I have been thinking about Al Bell recently and even searched you tube in hopes some of his films had made it to there but no luck! I grew up in Nevada, IA and it was always a special treat when we had an Al Bell assembly and we all sat in the gym being mesmerized by his productions. God I wish someone could get hold of his films.
I am surprised they have not surfaced somewhere at some point in time. Does anyone know if his family is still alive? (or did I miss this information somewhere between the first post and mine (I read a couple of pages of comments but couldn't read all of them). Oh to go back in time for just an hour or so.
We just had our 35th reunion and believe it or not the subject of Al Bell came up as we sat around talking about the "Good old days."
Finding your blog just made my day, week, month, and quite possibly my year. Thank you so much.
I grew up in northeastern Iowa - Riceville; I remember Al and Laura visiting our school yearly in the early 70s. They always had a way of making a simple story humorous, bringing cultures from foreign lands to our little midwestern town, and lighting up a room with their personalities.
Reading these posts has been good and a good recognition that I would have to attribute my overseas living bug bite to the Bells in my early years. I taught "overseas" for four years in the American School Foundation network before coming back to the states to further my education degree. Looking back in reflection, I'm sure the international culture bug bit me in my early elementary years with the Bells.
I support the idea of Al and Laura Bell recognition at the Iowa state level. If the DVDs ever come out, I would love to purchase one!!
I never had the opportunity to witness Al Bell but from the looks of things, It is definetly my loss. I'm from texas and a studnet at the university. I was speaking with one of my professors who happens to be from Iowa and she mentioned the excitement he brought to so many people throughout Iowa. We were discussing the possibility of implementing something simular into the school systems down south. I would love to see some of his presentations to learn more.
I Googled "Al Bell" on a whim. I enjoyed his assemblies in the '70s in Zearing, IA (NESCO). I don't remember a lot of details about their presentations, but I remember he and his wife had "larger-than-life" personalities. It was a treat for small-town IA. (I also remember Duane and Floppy mentioned in a previous post.) I will never forget telling me niece about seeing Floppy and she asked in her sweet little voice, "Was Duane with him?"
This morning several of us started reminiscing while we were working out at Curves. Since it is a very cold day today, we remembered how we used to have to wear pants under our dresses to go to school. That led to other memories, and then someone brought up Al Bell. We all remembered how we loved Al Bell assemblies. They were the highlight of the year. The owner of Curves is much too young to know anything about Al Bell, but she got online and found this blog for us. I would love to see those movies again and relive my memories of sitting on the gym floor in Scranton being fascinated by those far-off places.
I was watching the Walt Disney movie "Saludos Amigos" which is pretty much a documentary of Walt Disney taking most of his people on a trip through South America and Mexico for artistic inspiration. They learned all about the local cultures and partied with the locals all the while drawing, painting, and coming up with story lines for new Walt Disney cartoons. While watching this, I realized this was no different than watching an Al Bell production in elementary school. I attended elementary school in Boone and Story City. Al Bell came every year during the 1970's. I always looked forward to the movies he showed of his trips all around the world. He and his wife would always be dressed in the local garb and he always had plenty of souvenirs to show. I would love to see a collection of this stuff somewhere. I think if any of it still exists it should have a permanent home right next to Duane Elliot and Floppy at the state historical society.
MISTER AL BELL, ONE OF MY GREATEST AND MOST HAPPY MEMORIES FROM SCHOOL DURING THE 60'sand 70's AT GARNER-HAYFIELD IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA. WHAT A GIFT HE AND HIS WIFE BROUGHT TO US EACH YEAR,(THE WORLD) ! I WISH I COULD HAVE THANKED HIM IN PERSON AND MET HIM. AS I THINK BACK ON TRIPS I HAVE MADE, I MUST INCLUDE HIS AS HE MADE YOU FEEL LIKE HE TOOK YOU ALONG ON THOSE TRIPS WITH HIM. IT WAS ALWAYS A GREAT DAY WHEN AL BELL CAME TO TOWN, IT TOOK ME AWAY FROM THE CONFINES OF SMALL TOWN IOWA IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER, IF ONLY FOR AN HOUR! MY THANKS TO HIS FAMILY, YOUR FATHERS MEMORY LIVES ON...............
Finally! I've been meaning to google Al Bell for quite some time now, and when I should be job hunting (who isn't these days?), I decided to take a break and see what I could find on him. Voila!!
I've read all the posts, and I'm disappointed in myself, because I don't remember his catch phrases, like "And it's a ggggggrrrrrreeeeeaaatttttt day" and "It's a bea--uti-ful day today!". But I do remember how he would have the boys carry his equipment for him, though. I was always excited and anxious about their upcoming visits, curious about where they had been in their recent travels. It was actually one of the most highly anticipated events of the school year for me, every single year.
I remember the year that he had the Chow in tow. It was a gorgeous dog. I'm not sure, however, if it was this animal, or if he had ever brought in some other species (I can't imagine what it would have been, though), but one of my most embarrassing moments I felt for my school was when the animal (whatever it was) did what comes naturally to all animals, right there on our gym floor. Some of us tried not to laugh and giggle, because we knew that that would have been extremely rude to show Mr. and Mrs. Bell how ungrateful we were for their time and effort. But, of course, boys being boys, some snickered so much that Mr. Bell cursely told them to knock it off, that it was a natural function, and that they should be more respectful. I felt so bad for him, and so ashamed for my school.
I'm glad that I finally took the time to look for the Bells. I have been fortunate in my life to have done some traveling of my own. Who would have thought that a sheltered little girl from southwest Iowa would have been able to have traveled across our country and even to see parts of Europe as well? And now I'm living in Florida and avoiding nasty Iowa winters!
Thanks for taking the time to pay homage to Mr. and Mrs. Al Bell and to the dedication they showed in sharing with so many small Iowa children some of the wonders of our world. We would probably have never had an opportunity otherwise to hear of such exotic travels as the Bells brought to us back then. And I ALWAYS loved the costumes that they wore! I feel that they brought National Geographic right to our own auditoriums.
One more thing. I agree with the idea of having an exhibit of the Bell's travels in the Historical Museum. What better place to remember some of our fondest childhood memories, and then to pass them on down to our children and to other generations!
There'll never be another Al Bell!
Thanks so much. I've been looking off and on for information about Al Bell for years now. I grew up in southern Iowa; my wife is from Cedar Rapids, and has no clue what I'm talking about when I tell her about the wonderful Al Bell shows every year.
I was like you, Doug, I always thought the guy had a truly wonderful job. He instilled in me a desire to see the world - I had no idea what was out there beyond the horizons of my small southern Iowa farm life. He opened my eyes.
And I frankly had no idea he was an Iowa phenomenom - I assumed as a kid that he traveled the country doing his shows.
Anyway thanks again, and I'll bookmark your site. Let us know how we can help preserve his memories.
We remember Al Bell visiting Klemme Community Schools. I graduated in '76 and it was a huge event when he and Mrs. Bell would arrive and show their film, costumes, pets, etc. One year the Bells had visited a country where warthogs were common. And it happened that Klemme High had a game that night with the Kanawha High Bulldogs, our feared and hated rivals. So of course one of the older guys shouts out "Kanawha Warthogs!" And that stuck, alas, to Kanawha. Both schools are gone now.
I post on the klemmehigh.com site and the Klemme group on facebook and was sent this blog's link after mentioning Al Bell in our "You know you went to Klemme High. . . " section
I think about Al Bell every time I watch the travel section on the Today show! I attended Belmond Community Schools in the 70's. It was the best day of the school year when the Bell's came to town! I remember the Nepal trip and the Transylvania show. I think, in addition to opening my eyes to the world outside Northern Iowa, they both made me want to be an entertainer. I hope his family considers posting mementos on Facebook or MySpace. I think they would be amazed at how many people remember and are grateful for their mom and dad's contribution to Iowa kids. It's people like the Bell's who are partially responsible for the outstanding brilliance of Iowa folks. Think of how many kids they reached and influenced! Wow!
My sister and I were discussing Al Bell at Chrismas and she Googled him and sent me this link. Yes, it was a good day when Al Bell came to school. I seem to remember once he had been to Newfoundland and actually brought a big Newfoundland dog! He was huge and looked like a St. Bernard only all black. Always looked forward to Al Bell.
I would love to see something at the Iowa historical museum and I would especially like to see a documentary done on him including pictures and films on IPTV!
Thanks Al, we miss you.
I just brought up Al Bell to some of my buddies and then the stories started. He was a very interesting man with his costumes and stories. My claim to fame was my dad had cut down a tree for Al. He made many kids happy in Adel, Ia. with his assemblies. The closest we got to adventures was Marlin Perkins on his Mutual of Omaha show on TV. Thanks for the memories Al. D GLenn
We had Al Bell assemblies yearly in Aplington Iowa as well. I remember hearing that he passed away several years ago (but I have NOTHING to back that statement up). Always wanted his job - I know he charged a LOT for each assembly.