Still Banks

Friday, November 18, 2016
Cloudy with Sunny Periods
10 Celsius 50 Fahrenheit

Still Banks

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I've already written about cast iron mechanical banks. These are the banks that have a lever that is tension . When the lever is released, the toy takes a coin and moves it via the character of the bank,and the coin falls into the holding area. By movement it can be a baseball pitcher tossing the coin into the catcher's glove and falling onto the holding area.

On the other hand, there is another group of banks called cast iron still banks.  These banks do not have mechanical movements. They are the "old-fashioned" bank with a slot at the top. You drop the coin through the slot, and the coin falls into the holding area. Some of these banks would open with a key, while many would open with a screwdriver turning a screw to separate the 2 halves of the safe. Most of these banks with slots were made of 2 half pieces held together with a screw.

These banks were very popular from the 1870's-1930's. Children were encouraged to save. Parents would give their children a penny from time to time, and when full, the child could go out and buy something. Back in the 1880's for example, a child could purchase a whole bag of candies. 

Today, here in Canada, the penny has been discontinued. When you buy something the bill is "rounded off" either higher or lower to the nearest 5 cents. As an example,  $ 1.52- $ 1.52 becomes $ 1.50, while $ 1.53- $ 1.54 rounds off to $ 1.55. The Canadian government felt that the penny was costing them too much to mint, so they discontinued. 

I miss the penny!

"DIME" 221 N. 12TH ST. SAFE STILL BANK
Kyser & Rex, extremely rare example, cast iron, embossed floral pattern, 

have never seen this example, embossed lettering on door. 

Height : 4 5/8"   117 mm

BASEBALL PLAYER STILL BANK
A.C. Williams, cast iron, wearing blue uniform 

with red stockings and red hat. 

Height:  5"  127 mm 

INDIAN WITH TOMAHAWK STILL BANK
Hubley, cast iron, painted brown overall with gold paints and red headdress. 

Height:  5"  127mm

SHARECROPPER STILL BANK
A.C. Williams, cast iron, painted in gold shirt with black pants, 

toes visible on one foot. 

Height:  5 1/4" 133 mm

GROUPING OF FIGURAL STILL BANKS
Cast iron, includes silver painted Sailor, 

gold painted Boy Scout and Mutt & Jeff at soap box still bank. 

Height: 5 1/4" to 6"  133 - 152 mm  

MERMAID STILL BANK
U.S., cast iron, painted in gold overall, depicts girl in rowboat. 

Length: 4"  101 mm

SANTA CLAUS STILL BANK
Wing, cast iron, wearing red hooded robe, gold boots, 

white beard and face, holds green tree in hand. 

Height: 5"  127 mm  

LINCOLN BUST SAFE STILL BANK
J.M. Harper, very rare, black cast iron safe vault with turn handle, 

Lincoln bust well detailed on top of bank. 

Height: 5 3/4" 146 mm

 Most of the banks are relatively small, averaging 5" (127 mm) in height. The banks could be  a solid casting of metal, left unpainted, or it the bank could be hand-painted. Banks could be made as people, cartoon characters, mythical characters, cartoon characters (early 20th century) and inanimate objects such as trees or boats.

THese banks are also copied so you have to be careful when you're buying them. Most of these bakes at auction ranged from $ 68.00 - $ 1100.00). Of the 8 banks that I selected, the Lincoln bank was the most expensive, having been sold for $ 1000.00 plus.

I did purchase one for my wife and it was under $ 50.00 US. It was of a young boy in a sailor suit. 

My late father-in-law has his photograph taken when he was a very young child. Sadly his parents didn't have th money to pay for the photograph, and my father-in-law never got the photo. He was always searching for it looking always for a photo of him, but that of course was impossible to find. 

And that's how I came to give my wife that cast iron still bank.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever yo umay be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com