Why does the Senator presiding over the Senate use that little knobby thing instead of a proper gavel?
Great Falls, VA – 7/31/00 The Senate (above) and House (below) gavels in use. Click on any picture for a larger image Well, even without a handle, it is a proper gavel! It is a solid ivory curvy pestle donated by the government of India to the United States Senate in 1954. This ivory gavel was a gift to replace an identical gavel which had become worn and unattractive due to silver braces used to hold it together after a century of hard use. It finally split apart during a long and heated debate on atomic energy in 1954, when it flew out of the Presiding Officer’s hand. The first documented use of the original gavel goes back to one of the first meetings of the Senate in the spring of 1789, when it was wielded by Vice President John Adams. The Senate wanted an identical replacement, but no solid piece of ivory of the necessary size for carving was available through commercial sources. An appeal to the Embassy of India for assistance, resulted in the gift of an identical replica. India
