"Pokey" the Turtle Bank

"Pokey" the Turtle Bank
Made by Kilgore Mfg. Company. Westerville, Ohio - Late 1920's. From the Perelman Museum Collection. From the Haradin Family Collection. In the ninety years since its production, very few "Pokey" banks have come to light. Most likely, this is due to a serious flaw in the engineering design for the Turtle Bank. When coins are pushed through the slot in Pokey's shell, his head should move out a tiny bit and immediately retract. At the time, Kilgore received many complaints about the banks mechanism breaking. Apparently, larger coins (such as a nickel) that were pushed too forcibly into the bank had the effect of breaking the spring mechanism, thus rendering the bank inoperative. Therefore, Kilgore suspended production for this bank shortly after it began. Leon Perelman's spectacular Turtle Bank has long been envied by collectors for its vastly superior quality and because it is thought to have the most varied color combination in its base.