More A.C. Williams Still Banks

Thursday, February 9, 2018
Overcast with snow flurries
+2 C  35.6 F

More A.C. Williams

Please click here to visit Cyber Toy Auction on Liveauctioneers

The items below are called "still banks" as compared  to "mechanical banks". A still bank

is simply a bank where you put money into a slot. A mechanical bank is where a coin is placed somewhere on a part of the bank, and when a lever is pressed, the coin is moved into a slot.

Still banks were manufactured from the 1880's - 1920's. They later became less popular and the cost of shipping these cast iron banks became too expensive.  One characteristic of these banks was that they were made in 2 half parts that  were held together by a flat head screw. These flat head screws were the only type of screw at the time, compared with the many varieties of today.

Therefore, this is one way of detecting a wrong screw on a still bank, or if the baks appears brand new with another type of screw, then it is a modern-era"reproduction". Because these banks were inexpensive to produce, the manufacturers of the time were able to make all sorts of banks.  What you see here today are animals, characters from comics (Buster Brown and Tiger), and man-made figures such as buildings, boats, or streetcars.  Most of these still banks are not valuable. However, like all auction items, the rarer ones do  receive higher bidding.

Buster Brown and Tiger

Cast Iron Still Bank

Circa 1910's

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Antique Still Banks

Friday, January 12, 2018
Overcast With Rain
+6 C  42.8 F

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions on Live Auctioneers

There is an interesting auction going on today from the renowned antique toy auctioneer, Bertoia Auctions. Among the many numerous items for sale, are what are called "still banks". Still banks differ from mechanical banks in that they do not have any moveable parts like the mechanical banks. They are usually made from 2 parts that are attached together by a screw or a screw and bold. That's how you remove the money from the bank when it is full.  I haven't added any descriptions to todays photos as Bertoia Auctions didn't add much description to the toys. Their descriptions are self explanatory, such as " 2 deer still banks".

As you'll see below, the toys represented a microcosm representing things and items of the times.

These banks were very popular in the late 1800's and the beginning of the 20th century. Bank then, children were encourage to save money at an early age. Moreover, money had value back them. There were many items a child could buy for 1 cent, and for 25 cents, you could almost have a choice of 50 toys to buy for that price. Nowadays, for 25 cents, all you get is 1 gumball!

 The pair of toy banks below are priced higher than the other banks.  They

are rarer, and represent the famous cartoon character "Andy Gump", who was a very popular comic strip character in the early 1900's.

I even have one of these banks. I purchased one for my wife. My late father-in-law George, had his photo taken in the 1920's when he was a young boy. He was dressed up by the photographer in a sailor's suit. Sadly, his parents were very poor, and his mother wasn't able to buy the finished photographs from the photographer. He always had this on his mind, so I bought a  toy young boy dressed up in a sailor suit. 

I should even use it to save money for a vacation. Of course,

we don;t have pennies in Canada anymore. The government decreed them "useless" and too costly to use.  Of course, in 2018, I will have to use what are called "twonees". These represent the value of 2 Canadian Dollars. Needless to say, I'll need to refill this bank 20 times to be able to go anywhere! So much for the value of money today!

Thanks for dropping by,

And have a great day.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Still Banks

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

Still Banks

Please click here to visit this outstanding American Auctioneer

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