Toy Bank: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Toy bank in the form of a center-chimney house, painted white and gilt-stenciled on the front facade with "BANK" arched above a four-paneled, double door flanked by six-pane windows, all gothic-arched with fanlights. Red-painted, lapped-seam chimney is the money slot. Blue-japaned roof is soft-soldered in place. Building front, bottom and back are one piece with ends crimped inside their plain edges. No marks.

Attributed to George W. Brown & Co. of Forestville (now Bristol), CT, in business 1856-1868; or Stevens & Brown Manufacturing Co., of Cromwell, CT, in business, 1869-1880. George W. Brown (involved with both concerns) is credited with introducing mechanical (clockwork or wind-up) toys to the United States, and produced an illustrated catalog of his offerings in 1870.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1860 - 1880
• Object Name: bank, toy
• Other Terms: Bank; Toys
• Physical Description: iron (overall material)
• Physical Description: tin (overall material)
• Physical Description: gold (exterior decoration material)
• Physical Description: paint (exterior decoration material)
• Physical Description: asphaltum (exterior decoration material)
• Measurements: overall: 3 7/8 in x 3 3/8 in x 2 1/4 in; 9.8425 cm x 8.5725 cm x 5.715 cm
• place made: United States: Connecticut, Cromwell
• Subject: Toys
• Subject: Children
• Subject: Banks
• Subject: Building & Architecture
• ID Number: DL.263901.0079
• catalog number: 263901.0079
• accession number: 263901
• Credit Line: Kenneth E. Jewett
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.