BY SY SCHRECKINGER HUMILIATION AND SUFFERING were the fates of the unfortunate blacks unwillingly brought to this country from Africa. Thrust into a world of slavery, their music and dance provided a measure of solace and maintainment of cultural identity. The soul-stirring melodies of the slave eventually evolved into a form of musical entertainment enjoyed by the non-black public. This [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER MAGIC, IN THE FORM of illusions, slight of hand, and “disappearing” coin tricks have amazed and fascinated young and old alike. Nineteenth and early twentieth century designers and manufacturers of novelty items, including mechanical banks, were well aware of the public’s beguilement. This became evident by their introduction of various “magical” apparatus. Amongst these items was the [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER GRAND AND GRACEFUL are those wind-activated structures so aptly termed “windmills”. One can imagine wispy sails slowly turning in the gentle morning breeze. However, their internal power is revealed by the rotating, weighty granite millstones hidden deep within their structures. (Eloquently capturing this scenario is a poem penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow entitled “The Windmill”.) Our subject, [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER THE “MAGIC” OF projecting a three dimensional image onto a two dimensional or flat surface has fascinated scientists, theologists and the simply curious throughout the ages. The birth of photographic cameras is attributed to the “Camera Obscura”, a device dating back to ancient China. A box-like room with a pinhole or lens in one wall was utilized [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER THE WORLD OF MECHANICAL banks encompasses a multitude of subjects and a variety of themes. Over the years avid collectors have been known to discuss and, occasionally, ponder over the intricacies of individual examples. In many instances, color variations of particular banks have provoked interesting theories and speculation. Those variations exhibiting highly chromatic differences are often favored [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER ONE OF THE MOST popular categories of both still and mechanical banks is the representation of a building, whether it be a commercial, residential or historical structure. Interestingly, the very first patented, commercially produced cast iron mechanical bank was introduced in 1869. Its subject was a bank building familiarly known as “Halls Excelsior”. In contrast, those mechanicals [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER OUR SUBJECT, this article, features the image of a frog, bearing testimony to the majesty of Mother Nature. Who, after all, could create a more appropriate creature to grace a penny savings bank? During the latter portion of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this whimsical, cavernous-mouthed amphibian proved to be a popular subject for the plethora [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER ONE SLEEPY afternoon, a very bored little girl known as Alice sat with her sister beside a riverbank. Suddenly, appearing within Alice’s vision was a White Rabbit, fully clothed and adorned wi th a pocket watch. Curiosity overcame Alice and she proceeded to follow this creature into a rabbit hole. Losing her balance, she tumbled into a [...]
BY SY SCHRECKENGER ENJOYING THE SPOTLIGHT, this article, is a most under appreciated tin plate mechanical bank. The simplistic and modest “Thrifty Animal Bank” has been overlooked in favor of sizable, more attractive and impressive mechanicals. This unassuming bank may have also suffered from “multiple classification disorder”. Invariably, a toy savings bank is a member of only one of three [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER OVER THE CENTURIES, both young and old alike have enjoyed lilting melodies emanating from ingenious automated musical apparatus. Unfortunately, earliest examples were extremely expensive to produce and their sales limited to only the wealthy. These instruments were constructed utilizing either circular metal perforated disks or small articulated hammers and bells. It was not until the early twentieth [...]
