Why does the Catholic Church use wood blocks on holy Thursday?

Holy Thursday is the mass of the last Supper. After the Gloria, during which bells are rung, the bells go silent until Easter when Jesus is risen. So during communion when the bells are usually rung several times during the communion prayer and consecration, the church used to use wood blocks clapped together instead of bells, a reminder to the people that something special is happening in the Mass. This practice is no longer done in the usual Mass since the Vatican Council.