Prototype for a Two Story Money Box

Prototype for a Two Story Money Box
Designed & Patented by John Hall. Patent Received January 31, 1874 Pat. 154,783. Assigned Sept. 8th, 1874. Former Collection of Donal Markey, From the Collection of Frank Kidd. As part of his dispersal of the Mosler Collection in 1983, Don Markey discovered Mosler's caché of fascinating objects related to the historical lore of mechanical bank production. This included fully assembled patent models and design prototypes for banks, along with several shoeboxes of loose parts in need of assembly. This captivating wood prototype for a two-story building bank is one such "assembly project". It had been stored very carefully along with original patent documents for many years. By studying the tiny patent drawing and looking at the random loose parts, Markey concluded that he would tackle the assembly project by himself. However, there were some incomplete shards of wood for which Donal needed to make additives. Nevertheless, the finished assembled product presents us with an absorbing and vital visual document about the general nature of patents for toy banks. For example, this two-story house was never actually put into production by the J. & E. Stevens Company. However, as a feature of U. S. Patent Law, Stevens was allowed to use the technology developed by John Hall for this bank and apply it to a single story version of the bank. Of course, this latter iteration of the bank famously became known as Hall's Lilliput Bank. This represents a major historical discovery on Markey's part because, as a record, It patently demonstrates the fluid mutable nature of toy design and commercial production.