Sounded like a can, acted like a can, at first I thought it was a can...it wasn't a can.
Dug it pretty deep, black with dirt but a bit smaller and square in shape.
Rubbed the dirt off a small part of one side...nuthin'.
Turned it over and rubbed it and I start to see words in a strange old looking font.
Bank...account...contents...presentation.
What the heck is this?
On the bottom I see other smaller letters so I clean those off best I can and I see...
Manufactured By
Safety Pocket Bank Co
Chicago
Pats Pend
Hey cool, a bank you carry around with you.
It is smashed pretty flat with dirt in it but dare I hope there might be coins in this thing?
I was about done for the day so I pack it in and hurry home to clean it up.
I pry it open at home and empty out the dirt but alas...no coins.
After some scrubbing and a little tumbling I can read all the words etched into the side..
This Bank
will
be opened and
contents placed
to your account
on
presentation
I start doing research.
I find two others like it on eBay, one from a bank in Belkin Illinois, another from a bank in Wisconsin.
I assume this one came from a bank here in Birmingham so these might have been countrywide.
Mine is missing the top and a square tag.
The top had a slot that was supposed to be opened by a teller at your bank when you filled it up, actually a small flat screwdriver would spring it open, the square space in the backside had a metal tag from each bank with the bank's address and the account number of the owner.
Glued in, I assume.
I see one of the eBay sellers mention the Safety Pocket Bank Co. started in 1905 and the pats pend words indicate this was made around that time since they had no patent yet.
Could be, but I have found many sellers just make stuff up to sell their wares if not actually out and out lying so I continue to do research to track this companie's history down but there isn't much...none really.
Then something happened that makes this hobby so much fun to find stuff and then find out the surprising history about that stuff.
I see a link to an advertisement in a paper I never heard of, the United States Investor, which evidently was a very popular paper at one time for bank owners and other high end investor types.
Costs a big time $5 a year to subscribe to this thing, I find out.
I had to download a 168 megabyte pdf file to see it but after I do I search a little and on page 67 of the issue dated October 21 1905 I see the top of the page has this ad you can see below.
Now I am thinking this has to be one of the coolest thing I have ever rescued from mother earth.
Very thick brass with a chrome coating which mine still has, I would have been thrilled to carry this thing around in my pocket if I was a kid in 1905.
It not only carried treasure...it was treasure, but in reality it was a very well thought out promotional item that I assumed worked pretty well to get new business for the banks that passed these out.
Mine looks slightly different than the one in the ad so I assume they improved them, changed them a bit and added those words on the side early on.
If not from 1905 I gotta believe it is close.
We call this hobby digging history...if this ain't exactly that I don't know what is!
That ad, pics of mine and pics of a complete one pulled off the web below.
Dug it pretty deep, black with dirt but a bit smaller and square in shape.
Rubbed the dirt off a small part of one side...nuthin'.
Turned it over and rubbed it and I start to see words in a strange old looking font.
Bank...account...contents...presentation.
What the heck is this?
On the bottom I see other smaller letters so I clean those off best I can and I see...
Manufactured By
Safety Pocket Bank Co
Chicago
Pats Pend
Hey cool, a bank you carry around with you.
It is smashed pretty flat with dirt in it but dare I hope there might be coins in this thing?
I was about done for the day so I pack it in and hurry home to clean it up.
I pry it open at home and empty out the dirt but alas...no coins.
After some scrubbing and a little tumbling I can read all the words etched into the side..
This Bank
will
be opened and
contents placed
to your account
on
presentation
I start doing research.
I find two others like it on eBay, one from a bank in Belkin Illinois, another from a bank in Wisconsin.
I assume this one came from a bank here in Birmingham so these might have been countrywide.
Mine is missing the top and a square tag.
The top had a slot that was supposed to be opened by a teller at your bank when you filled it up, actually a small flat screwdriver would spring it open, the square space in the backside had a metal tag from each bank with the bank's address and the account number of the owner.
Glued in, I assume.
I see one of the eBay sellers mention the Safety Pocket Bank Co. started in 1905 and the pats pend words indicate this was made around that time since they had no patent yet.
Could be, but I have found many sellers just make stuff up to sell their wares if not actually out and out lying so I continue to do research to track this companie's history down but there isn't much...none really.
Then something happened that makes this hobby so much fun to find stuff and then find out the surprising history about that stuff.
I see a link to an advertisement in a paper I never heard of, the United States Investor, which evidently was a very popular paper at one time for bank owners and other high end investor types.
Costs a big time $5 a year to subscribe to this thing, I find out.
I had to download a 168 megabyte pdf file to see it but after I do I search a little and on page 67 of the issue dated October 21 1905 I see the top of the page has this ad you can see below.
Now I am thinking this has to be one of the coolest thing I have ever rescued from mother earth.
Very thick brass with a chrome coating which mine still has, I would have been thrilled to carry this thing around in my pocket if I was a kid in 1905.
It not only carried treasure...it was treasure, but in reality it was a very well thought out promotional item that I assumed worked pretty well to get new business for the banks that passed these out.
Mine looks slightly different than the one in the ad so I assume they improved them, changed them a bit and added those words on the side early on.
If not from 1905 I gotta believe it is close.
We call this hobby digging history...if this ain't exactly that I don't know what is!
That ad, pics of mine and pics of a complete one pulled off the web below.
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