Saturday, June 8, 2013
Opamerica
Some Nice Mechanical Banks
I'm very fortunate to be able to have many companies and individuals who have allowed me the use of their toy photographs. One of them is Opamerica, who has an excellent store on E-Bay. I try to find people, auction houses, or seller who have high-quality images, lots of images,well-explained information, and of course great toys. Of course, Opamerica, of course fits of of my criteria.
I write about about mechanical banks before, but today's content had great explanations of how these 2 mechanical banks actually operate. What's more, there are 2 short videos that illustrate how the coin gets into the collection part of the bank. I've added the links both to Opamerica E-Bay site, and the locations for the 2 videos on You-Tube.
There are 2 types of cast iron banks. One is titled a still bank. With this banks, a coin is simply placed into a slot and the coin drops into a collection area. You may either need a key, or you can simply open a small hole at the bottom. The other type of cast iron bank is the mechanical bank. The mechanical bank has a trigger or cocking mechanism. After the coin is placed on a part of the toy, the trigger is released,and the coin is propelled or drops into the holding area.
Once upon a time, a long time ago (no, I'm not writing a story), children were encouraged to save money (pennies). The cast iron bank was a way to store the money, and actually have fun with a toy. There are thousands and thousands of different types of these banks from all of the major manufacturers from the 1860's- 1920's when these items were popular. There is even a mechanical bank club or association on the Net where you an find all kinds of information.
Because the patents have lapsed (expired), or the companies have long ago gone pout of business, or nobody else bought the company or own the patents, there are lots of legal reproductions of these toys. As such, you have to be aware of this whenever you think of seeing one at a flea market or even in a department store. What's disturbing for me is that you may even see the name of the original company and patent dates embossed on the modern-era reproductions!
However, if you look at companies such as Opamerica or any of the auctioneers that I write about, you can be sure, you're not going to get a "reproduction", being described as an original!
The Bank above does not have a YouTube video.
However, I'm sure with all of the images, you can figure out the mechanics of bank.
For those who don't know, the "Punch and Judy" characters date back over 340 years. The 2 were a pair of puppets - Mr. & Mrs. Punch. On stage, they would always argue and get into violent fights. In the olden times, the audience members were "encouraged" to warn Judy (Mrs. Punch) or even Mr Punch to watch out for unexpected hits by an array of any number of "weapons". These included plates, rolling pins, and so forth.
For those who would like more information, simply do a search and add the words Punch and Judy and Wikipedia together.
I intentionally left out much narrative today about how the banks work, because I thought you'd better understand an actual video rather than a written narrative. You may have to rewind the video several times, as the actual motion of the banks go very fast.
It's another rainy day today here in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which most appropriately applies to the old expression "save for a rainy day"!
And the weather "experts" are forecasting a warm summer!
Thanks for dropping by,
and have a great part of the day,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
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