Mechanical bank:Mule in Barn

Mechanical banks communicated to children not just the virtue of thrift. The more than 260 different bank models manufactured in the 1800s and 1900s depicted American life at the time. Some banks reflected patriotism (Uncle Sam), sports (Darktown Battery, Teddy and the Bear), popular entertainment (Punch and Judy, The Circus), religion (Jonah and the Whale), and technological advances (Sewing Machine, Trolley Motor Bank ). Other banks, like Paddy and the Pig and Bad Accident (depicting derogatory images of an Irishman and an African American), fueled racial and ethnic prejudices prevalent at the turn of the 20th century.