Salvation Army workers making their Christmas appeal for donations at an upmarket mall in Southern California have the familiar red kettles, but no bells.

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Salvation Army Maj. Antony Orta told the Los Angeles Times Fashion Island in Newport Beach allows the bell ringers -- known there as kettle workers -- only on the condition they solicit quietly.

"You have to respect store owners, people," Orta said. "We have to comply because we solicit on their premises. We're there to build relationships and let the community know that we work and we're here to serve."

Some shoppers at the mall, one of the few in the country with an ocean view, told the Times they would like to hear the bells.

"You expect to hear it around Christmastime," Kent Paul of Costa Mesa said Friday. "The weather really doesn't change much around here, so it's nice to have a little reminder of the season and I guess the Salvation Army bell is one of them."