Bread Winner's Bank

Bread Winner's Bank
Designed by Charles BaileyBy the J. & E. Stevens Company Excellent Plus Condition (1/2" crack at left waist of Italian Laborer, presently not working) Toy bank enthusiasts value the Bread Winner's Bank very highly because of its great historical significance. However, for modern viewers, it's symbolic meanings are often remote. Contrarily, children who came of age in the late 19th century would have easily recognized the socioeconomic dynamics at play in this toy bank. Today, one must re-engage one's knowledge of U. S. labor history to unlock these now forgotten and obscure clues. Examining the bank, one should first ask who are these three men and what is their relationship to each other. Why does one man carry a sledge hammer? Why does a second man wield a huge primitive club marked MONOPOLY? And why is the third man characterized as a disembodied head peeking out from a sack full of money? Perhaps most pointedly one must ask who are the "rascal" characters referenced in the very title of the bank and why must they be "sent up"? Answering these questions, one quickly sees that the thematic content of this toy derives from the raging debate in the press as to the harmful nature of monopolies in postbellum America. It directly alludes to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1886, which enables the federal government to break up and dismantle any business concerns that are perceived as having disadvantageous monopolistic features deemed harmful to the public. It also clearly points to the rise of Unionism and the emergence of Jewish union activists such as Samuel Gompers. In truth, it alludes to a full spectrum of social stratification and human existence. In this context, we can interpret the hammer toting figure as an iconic representation of the American Labor Force. He is characterized by his formidable muscular physique. Similarly, immigrant workers such as he, took jobs that forced them to work tirelessly for long hours at factories all across the country. Workers are depicted as earning honest wages and this can be evidenced by his standing beside the "Honest Labor Bread". In stark contrast, at the opposite end of the bank, the factory owner is depicted merely as a head emerging from a bagful of money marked "Boodle, Steal & Bribery". The viewer can clearly observe that his greed has no bounds. His millions have been earned at the tragic expense of his workers. Caught in the middle is a man whose features can only be described as Semitic. He wears his hair with the curling sideburns and he sports a long beard. Additionally, so there can be no doubt as to his "Jewishness", he wears a yarmulke. As a union arbitrator, he vainly tries to reconcile the disparate interests of factory ownership (capitalism) with those of the immigrant workforce (socialism). He is tasked with the impossible because he will never be able to fully satisfy the needs of either side. Therefore, he unwittingly frustrates both labor and management. To punish him, they decide to flip him upside down. He is the "rascal".