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 [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER OVER THE CENTURIES audiences have been captivated by various forms of entertainment. None, however, can astonish and fascinate spectators as profoundly as magicians, conjurers and stage illusionists. Popular trends, attractions and curiosities of any era have always influenced enterprising individuals to create marketable, profitable wares. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the public’s infatuation with [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER GYPSIES, PROGNOSTICATORS and sorcerers were once said to possess magical and mystifying powers. In a world where superstition prevailed, these self-proclaimed prophets were believed capable of foretelling future events. Modern day forecasters are the psychics, tarot readers and crystal ball gazers. Throughout the centuries enterprising individuals realized great profits by catering to the public’s fascination with the [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER A courageous and noble breed of animal is the bulldog. Its huge jaw and tenacious appearance designate it a worthy subject of mechanical banks, aptly able to guard or consume large amounts of coinage. Several mechanicals produced during the latter portion of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries serve as well-chosen representatives of this square-jawed canine. In [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER “Twas the Night Before Christmas….” and so begins the celebrated poem by Thomas Clement Moore. His poem, entitled “The Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”, as well as the popular illustration of “Father Christmas” created by Thomas Nast, provided inspiration for a plethora of holiday items during the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Nast’s rendition [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER The conclusion of the American Civil War, as well as numerous armed battles raging throughout Europe, saw the advent of a growing worldwide pastime. Fascination and a passionate interest in firearms and marksmanship increased dramatically. This love affair with gunnery kindled the establishment of the National Rifle Association of Great Britain in 1860. It was in that [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER IMAGINE A PERIOD IN history when the haunting whistle of an oncoming steam locomotive generated great excitement! This was a time of worldwide infatuation with these huge and powerful transporters. Our subject, seen in Figure 1, is an example of the ingenuity and creativeness utilized to exploit such public enthusiasm. Cognizant of the popularity of railroading, particularly [...]
BY SY SCHRECKINGER Simplistic and charming are the imaginizing of life on a farm. Its appeal was the catalyst for the manufacture of innumerable objects reflecting such an existence. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries several mechanical banks were produced, both in this country and abroad, that depicted various aspects of farm life. Some examples were of a [...]
