-Cat- still bank c. 20th century

This -Cat- still bank was made of clear glass by Grapette Products Co.. The molded form suggests a ghostly feline; a familiar figure made strange. I wonder, what was it like to design a bank that would encourage saving? The cat, a symbol of domesticity and comfort, becomes a vessel for delayed gratification. I imagine the designer thinking about how form influences behavior, how the tactile quality of glass might make the act of saving feel more real, more tangible. The transparency of the glass invites us to witness the accumulation of wealth—or the lack thereof—and to see each coin as a mark, each one adding to the cat's strange anatomy. A fascinating object, this bank touches on commerce, collecting, and the everyday magic of turning something ordinary into something strangely symbolic.