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"Trick Dog" Mechanical Bank. American, Circa 1920.

Creator: Hubley
Offered by: Clive Devenish Antiques

Description
"Trick Dog" cast iron mechanical bank is one of the more ubiquitous banks in the field, but this particular example is quite rare in that it is a color variation of the more commonly found, black dressed clown, versus this example referred to as the "yellow clown" variant. It was made by the Hubley Manufacturing Company Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They purchased the rights for this bank from the Shepard Hardware company in 1906. They waited until 1915-1920 to manufacture this two part base (versus six part base by Shepard). Costing less to manufacture, and maintaining the same theme of a dog jumping through a clown's hoop, the bank sold quite well. It is not known why there were only a few yellow clown examples, but it is thought to have been made a little earlier than 1920.

The bank is in excellent all original paint and very colorful. There are no repairs albeit there is a one inch "factory" hairline at the front top of the red barrel. "Factory" means it occurred when manufactured, as evidenced by the original paint on both sides of the separation. The hand painted yellow clown has about 98% of it's original paint, while the blue base and red barrel are in completely original and excellent paint. The black and white dog is almost 100% original paint. Gold painted highlights to "Trick Dog" embossed on top surface of the bank.

To operate; with the dog in set position, place a penny in his mouth; release the lever (bottom right), the dog aggressively jumps through the hoop being held by the clown, while depositing the coin into the barrel. Coins are removed via the square key lock trap at the bottom. Tip: to set the dog back in place, push down on the lever, then, push the dog in place while slowly letting the lever back in place.

Dimensions: 9 3/4" long x 7 1/4" high x 3 1/8" wide

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Origin:	United States, Pennsylvania
Period:	1920-1949
Materials:	Hand painted cast iron
Condition:	Excellent. See description "factory" hairline on barrel
Creation Date:	Circa 1920
Styles / Movements:	Folk Art, Americana, Traditional
Incollect Reference #:	227096

Dimensions

W.	9.75 in;	H.	7.25 in;	D.	3.13 in;
W.	24.77 cm;	H.	18.42 cm;	D.	7.95 cm;

Message from Seller:

We are specialists in the field of antique mechanical coin banks. These rare and unique items were sold during the late 1800's and early 1900's to encourage and educate young children on the importance of saving money, with the majority of them having been made in America. We are leading experts in this field and one of the foremost dealers, having traded in mechanical banks since 1976.

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