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 El Camino Real (The King’s Road) is the Spanish name for the historic road that joined the twenty one Franciscan Missions, the Pueblos and Presidios in the early days of California. The greater portion of El Camino Real is Highway 101, a part of the splendid system of California highways. It is a continuous road over seven hundred miles in length and is marked by the unique and picturesque Mission Bell guideposts which originally gave distances between the principal towns and directions to the Missions. The bells are placed along the road not merely as landmarks and guides to travelers but as testimonials to the work of the Franciscan padres who were the pioneers that settled California in 1769.
The miniature bells sold in mission gift shops since 1914, are replicas of the hundreds of Mission Bell Guideposts marking the El Camino Real as well as other historically significant Mission bells. After the original owner of the company that manufactured the bells passed away in 1951, several owners carried on the production of these bells. Production continued into the mid 70’s at which time – due to partnership problems and other misunderstandings - the business was forced to close. The remaining inventory and company documents languished in storage for over 3 decades until the company assets were purchased and portions of the business resurrected. These miniature bells are no longer being produced, and, in some cases, can never be reproduced, as the original molds have been lost or destroyed.
 MissionGiftShop.com has acquired all of the remaining miniature bell inventory – produced between 1914 and 1955 - from the original manufacturer and is offering this very limited inventory to California Mission enthusiasts and collectors. These are identified on the website as “vintage” bells. While the supply of vintage mission bells is very limited, the gift shop still offers contemporary reproductions of many of these same bells so that everyone who visits has the opportunity to take home a piece of history or at least a beautiful memory of their visit.
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| 32158 Camino Capistrano, Suite A #429 , San Juan Capistrano CA 92675 | Copyright 2008 MissionGiftShop.com |
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