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