-Acme Safe- still bank c. 1890

Curator: What a compelling artifact. This is an -Acme Safe- still bank, dating to around 1890. Editor: It looks remarkably small and quite worn. Almost… nostalgic, in a strange, capitalist way. The red paint is faded, with lots of scratches. Curator: Precisely! These banks became popular as tools of socialization, encouraging children to internalize values around money and saving in the late 19th century. Editor: You can almost feel the little hands that were dropping pennies into it. Given it’s ceramic and metal, how were these constructed, precisely? The industrial process intrigues me, the intersection of mass production and the pretense of individual wealth. Curator: The process, though designed to mimic a real safe, was relatively simple: mass-produced metal components assembled with some ceramic parts – intended to present the impression of impregnability and security. Editor: Mimicry is spot on! The ornate dial – the very idea that a child needs a complex combination for their spare change – feels like a commentary on the banking system itself, obscuring access while ostensibly granting it. Curator: And this links to a broader social and cultural trend, where financial institutions sought to build trust, fostering a culture of savings to bolster their operations. The child's bank becomes a small theater of those dynamics. Editor: Absolutely. It’s a tangible example of how capitalism seeps into every aspect of life. One imagines these were heavily marketed and coveted by children; miniature vaults of potential. I see the paint and rusting of materials now more intensely, like a portrait, full of life, and I admire it all. Curator: Indeed. An innocent-looking object reveals complicated lessons on class, value, and aspiration. The bank functions as more than just a receptacle of savings; it embodies the social aspirations of a time. Editor: Yes, objects of that period like this show so much about cultural ideas of capitalism and greed—fascinating. Curator: Exactly, now looking at this, the perspective I have is totally changed, thank you for enlightening the materiality!