Many of you have seen postings about these before.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/441061.html?1398616339

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/85714.html?1238016137

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to receive a phone call from a gentleman who owns one of these. He once met me at a local car show. He had this bank for 35 years. It was given to him by a Ford employee who had it 40 years before that. It is in excellent condition. I always thought these were the best Ford collectible ever since I saw the one that Brent Mize had on display at the Homecoming in Richmond Indiana. I will post a few pics in a separate post so that I don't bugger up this one.

What does "Str" stand for ???

Str is short for Starter I believe.

Dem must be for demountable wheels.

(Message edited by benji on October 03, 2016)

Dem must be for demountable wheels.

Correct on that Benjamin. If you look at my bank and the ones shown in the previous discussions, you will see many differences. The banks already shown here are later ones with 1926 improved cars. My bank is an early one from 1924 or 1925. There is a hole next to the coin slot to hold a pencil which the later ones don't have. You can see that the early ones show the front of the car on the cover and the later ones show the rear of the car. Mine also has the name of the dealer from Detroit printed in two places. Later banks had blank spots in those areas so that the dealer could rubber stamp their name. Of course the drawings of the cars are different and the quality of the drawings are much better in the later version. Now all you hard core collectors who have one need to find the other one.

Coin slot with pencil holder.

Assuming you did bank a coin a day, and if it was a quarter a day how much could you get in the bank? What is its capacity in $$$$?

What I wouldn't give to acquire one of those!

Tim's comment gives me a deja vu all over again .....

I used to be quite taken with this kind of stuff. In 1958, DeSoto had a jobber make up a
bunch of tiny versions of their Fireflite convertible as kiddy promo giveaways. Oh man, ...
I HAD to have one !

Not sure what sparked the change in me, but it came on suddenly and I began to think
about the mountains of stuff I carted around through life as a burden and began to run my
"desires" through a filter of what was useful or really made me happy, versus what was
what I came to call "dust collectors". That little car (if a guy could find one) will cost him
about as much as a real car ! And for what ? So I can plex over yet another dust collector
and how to keep it safe from harm ? I dropped the idea and just enjoy other people's
photos of them.

Now, mind you, I still think something like this is super cool, relevant to the T interest,
and historic. I just feel that old knee-jerk reaction to want one, and then my override
kicking in, that quells the burning desire to add another "thing" to my mountain of "junk".

Nice find, and neat to know these exist !

I don't think that hole is a pencil holder, instead it is for bills you roll up say a dollar bill real tight and insert it in the hole. I have several vintage banks with that feature. Jim

Look what's embossed around the hole: "Deposit Paper Money Here". Definitely for paper bills.

Burger. I have to agree with every word you say which is the reason I no longer have a large collection of anything. It can get to the point that you don't know what you even have anymore. I have visited some extreme pack rats and am blown away by the way they live. This little Ford bank is an exception for me though but, it's already locked in a dark safe (a safe in a safe). What will I do with it?

James, you're right. Thank you! That hole is clearly for bills, not pencils. I assumed incorrectly due to the pages used for recording the money saved. That and the fact that the hole was removed from later versions. I could see removing a pencil holder. Why remove a hole for bills? Maybe Henry didn't like that hole because it might encourage wealthy, paper money owning "parasites" to buy his cars.

Well, to be fair .... I am STILL a major hoarder/packrat. It would just be SO much
worse if I saved EVERYTHING that I thought was neat !!!

Jack. I waited until now to answer you because there is part of a page I wanted to post below. While I can't guess how much the bank will hold, you can see that the intent was that you would visit the bank or dealer at least once a month so they could use their key to empty the contents. There would be more than enough room for 31 silver dollars or the same quantity of smaller coins. More impressive than the size is the weight. When you first hold one of these, you are immediately struck by how heavy it is.



Here are the rest of the car pages. Interesting how they are all white with black fenders. I know they are just drawings but, can anyone here tell if they represent 1924 or 1925 models?

One more thing, I like seeing things like this fall into the hands of someone who really really wants them. Tim, if I ever find out about the availability of another one, I will be sure to let you know right away.

My book is the same as yours ,but came out of Spokane Washington. I also have the key to open it

Joe
Could you please post a picture of the key. Perhaps beside a ruler.
Thanks

Steven. To see what the key looks like, click on the first link I posted at the top of this thread, then scroll down half way and you will see the pic. As for size, obviously it will need to fit the slot. That's all I can do. I don't have a key.

Dave W. For what it is worth? Since all cars show what appear to be 30X3.5 wheels and tires, and no mention is made of the balloon tire option, and also, the fact that they call most of the models the "new" (whatever)? I would imagine the year model of this would have been '24 originally. However, they likely sent those out unchanged for more than a year, and they would likely have been used well into '25. While the sedans (both tudor and fordor) really didn't change much between late '23 and '24, the coupe was an almost totally different car. Body-wise, nothing stayed the same. The '23 coupe is very similar (lots of detail differences) to a 1919 coupe. But the only sedan generally available before '23 model year, was the center-door.
I think those savings banks are so neat! I wish I could stumble into one somewhere for cheap. And I am beginning to let go of some of my nearly six decades of accumulation. Too much of my junk (uh, stuff) has remained hidden too long, packed away in boxes. I have been collecting this stuff since I was about five. I was a strange kid. But I never got one of these banks. Oh, well.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

here is a picture of the key ,and inside the bank

Wayne, I agree. The description of the "new" models makes it 1924. The 1926 bank does make mention of "balloon tires".

Joe, thanks for the key pic. I can see your bank is identical to mine including the hole for paper money.

Hmm, looks like a toilet paper dispenser key would work!

LOL!!!!!!
David, I have been debating whether to mention that or not myself! I have a key from a former job where I worked, and that is exactly what it was!

Well, if you look at that key for the 1924 bank and the one shown with the 1926 bank, you will see they look vastly different so, maybe one of them actually is a toilet paper dispenser key. The question is, which one?

(Message edited by 404_not_found on October 06, 2016)

I am willing to bet it's not the key to my bank !!
I seen the other key as well , looks to be homemade

looked again , key doesn't appear homemade !!!
But I still cant see the toilet paper companys
making such a fancy key or so small !!!

Being that the bank box is a simple stamping, it stands to reason that the key would be made likewise. OTOH, you would think there would be more pride put into a bank box key than a toilet box key. It's also possible that your key is correct for the 1924 bank and then they went cheap and simple for the 1926 version. Only by locating more bank owners with keys can we find the truth. The banks are rare, the keys are positively scarce. Maybe we should start researching toilet box keys instead.

Here ya go!



https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Paper-Dispenser-Key-Pack/dp/B005GURAR0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475780691&sr=8-2&keywords=Toilet+Paper+Dispenser+Key

Thanks Brian. Going to order a couple for mine (which is missing the key).