Victory Bell

The Victory Bell

Since 1942, the Victory Bell has been the symbol of supremecy beween the two cross-town rivals. But for two seasons prior, the bell rang loud and clear near the UCLA sideline after each Bruin score. The 295-pound bell, which originally rang atop a Southern Pacific locomotive, was given to the UCLA student body in 1939 as a gift from the school's alumni association.

Then a heist was performed. During the opening game of UCLA's 1941 season, six members of a USC fraternity infiltrated the Bruin rooting section, assisted in loading the bell aboard a truck headed back to Westwood, confiscated the key to the truck, and escaped with the bell. For over a year, it was out of reach of Bruin hands. At one point, it was hidden under a haystack.

One day a picture of the bell was printed in a USC periodical. UCLA students retaliated by painting the Tommy Trojan statue at USC. Trojan students then burned USC initials on UCLA lawns. A truce was called after the USC administration threatened to cancel the upcoming intercity match-up. Bill Farrer, UCLA student body president, met with his Trojan counterpart, Bob McKay. An agreement was forged. USC would return the bell if UCLA would agree to designate it as a trophy for the winner of the Big Game.

Thereafter, the annual winner of the game would keep the bell for the following year. Flavored with a taste of poetic justice, the Bruins proceeded to beat the Trojans for the very first time in the series and become the initial gatekeeper of the prize.

See also the old Crosstown Rivalry Page