The title, You Can't Un-Ring the Bell, refers to the time the author, as a child, who longed to be old enough to do all the things she observed her older siblings doing, e.g., ring the dinner bell to call the men from the field, but was not allowed to do. Unfortunately in her attempt to experience this, she does ring the bell in the evening, which, unknown to her, is a signal of distress, and caused all the neighbors to rush to their aid. She learns that once you have committed an act, it is not reversible-- you can't un-ring the bell. There are humorous accounts in the personal life of the author, who grew up in a small, close-knit community, where the people took care of each other. Reflections of the time period of the end of the Great Depression and through the end of WW II are included, but also there are accounts of incidents outside that time period, as related by her parents.