Bead-Ding Dong Blue White Black Round Glass TB

I maintain records on my trackables. For a US-based trackable, this one is unusual for its longevity and movement. In the six-year period, 2010-16, the owner released a total of 2563 trackables in the United States (96%) and Europe (4%). This trackable is one of the 5% of the total that circulated for at least 5 years and had been moved at least 25 times. That is a target rate of at least five drops per year for five years, or a drop every 73 days. The average drop rate of my trackables in the US is 124 days, in Europe it is 71 days. As of 6-Aug-22 this one has survived for 5.3 years and had been moved by 25 cachers, for an average drop every 78 days. Please keep it moving!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S. While in the US, please drop it in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event where there is no security. Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and dry, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items. Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

This is one of a series of large beads obtained from different places and converted into travel bugs.  They are named for Texas towns with interesting names or histories.  Much of the text is from the online Handbook of Texas or texasescapes.com.

Ding Dong is an unincorporated community in Central Texas.  It is on the Lampasas River, in Bell County.  Ding Dong was named after two early settlers in the town, Zulis Bell and nehphew Bert Bell, who opened a store there.  That the community is in Bell County, is a coincidence.  The Bells hired the artist Cohn Cohen Hoover to make a sign for their store.   Hoover painted a sign with two bells on it. Inside the bells, Hoover painted the initials of the Bell brothers. Underneath one bell he painted the word "Ding" and the word "Dong" under the other bell.  As a result, the men were known locally as Ding Bell and Dong Bell.  And, over the years, because of this sign, this community became known as Ding Dong.