The SBCS has just heard from RSL Auction Company that the Bob Kneisel Collection auction is scheduled for
Friday 26 February 2021 starting at 12 noon EST.
The auction will be hosted by Cyber Toy Auctions (a subsidiary of RSL Auctions) on LiveAuctioneers. This auction will feature a fantastic variety of Souvenir Buildings, Still & Mechanical Banks, Boats, Automotive, Trains, Wind-ups and more!
Please note that this auction will contain items from the Bob Kneisel Collection along with other souvenirs, banks and toys. It will feature almost half of Bob’s total collection. The remaining items in Bob’s Collection will be featured in another auction later on in the year. We will be sure to let you know when that auction is scheduled.
The good news is that there are 100’s of wonderful souvenir buildings in this auction. The more good news is that we all will have yet another opportunity to bid on even more wonderful souvenir buildings at the next auction.
So use the above link to visit the LiveAuctioneers site and register for this auction. Then join us on Friday, 26 February 2021 starting at 12pm EST for Cyber Toy Auction’s 14th sale entitled :
Architectural Souvenir Banks & Toys!
Check out all of the delightful little buildings awaiting your bids on February 26, 2021.
This slideshow consists of photos taken at Bob Kneisel’s home during the 2009 SBCS Convention in Pasadena and of photos taken in 2016 of the emptied cases. Some of the buildings depicted could be in your FLASH SALE Box.
If you missed out on the Bob’s Better Buildings sale last year – here is your chance to score! And for those who did score – a second opportunity to add more wonderful buildings to your collections.
The up-coming Kneisel Collection Flash Sale #6 is Monday, March 16th. This Flash Sale will consist of more of Bob’s Better Buildings and be limited to 30 boxes (with an average of 4 items per box). The cost will be $60 by check or $65 by PayPal ($60 plus $5 processing fee) per box.
As a reminder, each SBCS Member in good standing (membership paid through 2020) can order only ONE box. If you are part of a Family Membership and wish to purchase TWO boxes (one box for each Member), please include BOTH names and pay double the box price.
Keep an eye out for the official FLASH SALE Notice on March 16th and remember to follow the instructions.
DOLLAR BANK, Pittsburgh, PA. Made by A.C.Rehberger.
My name is Sarah Davies and I’m the Executive Assistant to Joseph Smith, SVP of Marketing at Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh, PA. We were rooting through some old files in our office and came across an article about the Dollar Bank coin bank replicas that were produced by both A.C. Rehlberger in Chicago and by Banthrico. According to Joe, many years ago we attempted to obtain the molds from one or both of these companies with no luck. We’d love to be able get a hold of these molds so that we can get some new ones made. As far as we know, A.C. Rehlberger is out of business and are not sure of the status of Banthrico. I may be on a wild goose chase, but does your club have any information on either of these companies or any information at all that might be helpful?
Iconic Kansas Souvenir Buildings: Eisenhower Chapel courtesy of Steven Chevalier
OLATHE, KANSAS
In June of 2019 collectors on the trail of souvenir buildings and collectors of still banks will converge in Olathe, Kansas, where once The Oregon Trail, The California Trail, and The Santa Fe Trail overlapped.
Have YOU mapped out your route yet to the 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONVENTION of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society?
Here are some milestones you’ll need to consider to along the way:
The Still Bank Collectors Club (SBCCA) are hosting the event. To participate in ALL activities you will need to join the SBCCA (fee is $45.00). Here is a link to their website.
Convention Registration is through the SBCCA. The registration fee is $175 and is inclusive of all events. New members of SBCCA are entitled to a $45 reduction in the registration fee, thereby making Registration and Membership total $175. There are no separate fees for SBCS attendees.
Accommodations are at the EMBASSY SUITES, Olathe. Convention rates are for the dates June 3 – June 8,2019. Use the code SBC
The Convention Commemorative is a building shaped still or coin bank and is included in the registration fee.An SBCS Silver Anniversary Commemorative will be offered later in this year AND to all members in good standing at the time of the subscription.
Pick and Pack your Souvenir Buildings for sale or exchange during the convention. The process is a little different this year. SBCCA tradition is “Room Hopping” a practice which goes on for the duration of the convention.SBCS members will be able to participate in this exercise.SBCCA and SBCS will hold separate Auctions at each end of Saturday.As an attendee you will be able to participate in both auctions.
Souvenir Building Collectors’ collections focus on souvenir or miniature buildings. However, many of these small treasures are also utilitarian – banks, bookends, tape measures, ink wells, paper weights, salt and pepper shakers – therefore the SBCSociety has a number of cross-collecting members.
On Saturday, August 26, during the 2017 SBCS Convention at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown, many different varieties of souvenir building will be up for sale through the SWAP MEET or AUCTION or RAFFLE.
These are some of the banks from the Kneisel Collection that will be available in the various venues.
The SOUVENIR BUILDING COLLECTORS SOCIETY website has lots of useful features. It is divided into a PUBLIC section (anyone can visit and view) and a MEMBERS ONLY section (for members of the SBCS).
The PUBLIC section TABS include:
HOME: The home page is SBCS’ face to the public. Here is where updates on activities, interesting programs, articles, stories from members are posted intermittently. If you want to stay current with SBCS programs, over to the right is a spot where you can register to receive an email when a new post goes up. Good way to stay abreast of convention plans. In that same right column there is a search field for the public areas of the website, as well as a listing of recent posts and a listing of categories. All of these can make a search a little easier.
History, Conventions, Media
ABOUT SBCS: A HISTORY of the organization which begins in 1995; IN THE MEDIA – listings with links to articles and videos in local and national publications about Souvenir Buildings and their collectors; PAST CONVENTIONS – summary of locales and the commemorative souvenir.
2017 CONVENTION: Updates on the upcoming annual Convention.
MEMBERSHIP: List of SBCS membership benefits and link to membership application and payment.
Advertising a Souvenir Building Auction
SALES: There are two links under this tab, one for COMMERCIAL sales by sellers who are members of SBCS – link to the member’s commercial site can be provided, the second is for INDIVIDUAL members who would like to offer some of their collection publicly. In both instances the transaction is between the buyer and seller – SBCS only provides the means of contact. Take a look and see if you would like to take advantage of this member benefit. In the past there have been a couple of offers in the individual section.
CONTACT US:This tab allows you to send an email message to the site, which is reviewed and forwarded to the appropriate person. It also is a conduit for questions about souvenir buildings.
LINKS: There are number of links to other sites that can be used for networking, browsing, and research. You can link to the Souvenir Building Collectors’ Facebook page (a closed group – but open to accepting new friends – SBCS membership not required), The Building Collector blog, National Building Museum, Canadian Centre for Architecture, The Still Bank Collectors, etc.
The MEMBERS ONLY section (TAB) includes access to:
BANTHRICO BUILDINGS THEN & NOW (downloadable pdf) by Lance Oldham
Building Exchange / Sales: member to member, also has a Wanted page
Convention Photos taken by members over a number of years
SBCS Newletter: Listing of back issues with links to each (downloadable pdf); Updated Indexes of Articles & Features, Authors, and Topics.
Officers: Listing of present Society Officers.
Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
Here’s a photo of a vintage Navy Pier souvenir building as A REMINDER THAT WE MEET IN THE FALL OF 2017 IN CHICAGO!
Georgia Railroad Bank Building, Clock & Inkwell. Property of Martin Gutierrez. 7” hight, base 5”x7”, Lead, possibly Art Metal Works.
MSIG Headquarters, Tokyo
Unidentified Souvenir Building with Clock
There are lots of reasons to renew (or start) your Souvenir Building Collectors Society membership.
Sharing your passion for small edifices with others of like mind.
Receiving the Souvenir Building Collector, The Journal of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society, 3 times per year.
Access to the Members Only Section of the SBCSociety website with its collection of reference materials that include Volumes 1 to 23 of the SBCS Journal and Lance Oldham’s Banthrico Buildings Then & Now.
Access to the Members Only Section of the SBCSociety website pages with buildings for exchange or sale and a wanted list.
THE ANNUAL CONVENTION! Three days of exceptional tours, friendships, and trading!
Here’s your chance! That one special building or many sought-after pieces from noted SBCS member Howie Gelbtuch’s collection and other consignors! All you have to do is have a winning bid!
Volumes 1 to 5 of the JOURNAL OF THE SOUVENIR BUILDING COLLECTOR SOCIETY are now available for download in the Membership section of the website. Members Only / SBCS Newsletters / Listing of Back Issues. Go to the bottom of the page.
Jay M, Michael E, and Joe K have contributed photos from the 2015 Convention that can be viewed at Members Only / Convention Photos / 2015. Roll over caption to get full captions. If you have pictures to share, please forward them. Also, check out the public tab, 2015 Convention Redux. We’ll keep it up for a while and could use some photos.
We could use some more pictures of buildings and monuments acquired during the convention to post and increase the number of buildings that will come up in a internet search.
Lance Oldham’s definitive work Banthrico Buildings, Then and Now. Check it out and download it for your research files.
Front Cover of Banthrico Buildings, Then and Now by Lance G. Oldham
WANTED:
Photos and descriptions of your souvenir buildings / monuments / statues with a Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, or Orange County location. We will start posting some of these photos as a run-up to the June 10 – 12, 2016 SBCS Convention in Los Angeles. A further intent is to create a locale (LA and Orange Counties) specific checklist for members. Email your photos to bookendcollector@bookendcollector.com.
Elizabeth L. and Joe K. took advantage of the “First to Fly” promotion for the Orlando EYE and got the birds-eye view of the Orlando countryside. Joe took 2 flights and received 2 commemorative “First to Fly” pins. Joe said, “While there is not that much to see while up in the sky (after all, it is in central Florida – not on the edge of the Thames), there are several worthwhile sites to discover and see from a different perspective”.
ORLANDO EYE
View of Central Florida from high up on the rotation of the Orlando Eye.
Katherine and Jerry tickled Frank Lloyd Wrights’ fancy.
Frank Lloyd Wright Statue, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL
Donna S. picked up 2 keys to the 1933 Century of Progress, Chicago’s World Fair, at an antique mall in the city of Winter Park. Of course, the keys had buildings depicted on them.
Keys to the 1933 Century of Progress, Chicago World’s Fair. Gray Metal, 8 1/2″ and 10″ in length.
On his way out-of-town, Joe K. found a $1 treasure at the Belville Corner Old Time Market in Bushnell, FL.
Firemen’s Memorial Monument, Department 56, American Pride Collection, Ht – 4 1/2″, W – 6″, Depth – 2 3/4″. Composite (plastic)
Base of Monument
Reverse of Monument
The Swap and Shop tables, the after dinner raffle, and the auction yielded more treasures for the 2015 convention attendees.
Checking out the Auction and Raffle Items
Unidentified Mexican Temple, 2 3/4″, Plastic
Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico, 1 3/4″, Plaster
The Fish House, Rockport, Mass. Sebastian Miniatures, 1950, Ceramic. 2 3/4″
Even a bashed up General Motors, Detroit, MI miniature building is all good if you don’t have one in your collection. Grey metal, 3 1/2″ in height.
Front Cover of Banthrico Buildings, Then and Now by Lance Oldham
Back Cover
Lance Oldham, author of the definitive Banthrico Buildings: Coin Banks and Souvenir Buildings, Monuments, and Landmarks Manufactured by the Banthrico Co. and Successor Companies (2004 – 6) is making available electronic copies of his book, Banthrico Buildings, Then and Now, to all members of the Souvenir Building Collectors’ Society, as a benefit of membership.
SBCS President, Joe Kopitz, states “I think that this is such terrific opportunity for our website and the SBCS. It adds such great value for our members and makes Lance’s hard work available to those who seek it most. Such a win-win.”
Lance has been a member of the Souvenir Building Collectors’ Society since 1995 and a member of the Still Bank Collectors Club of America since 1990. He is a frequent contributor of articles to the journals of both organizations. In writing Banthrico Buildings, Then and Now, Lance says, “My primary intent was to develop a database that could be used in writing comprehensive, detailed articles for collectors’ journals.”
In accomplishing his objective he not only provided the souvenir building and still bank collector communities with the specifications relating to the miniature replica building, but has conveyed the historical context of the actual building. For example, the Coast Federal Savings and Loan Association of Los Angeles issued a bank in 1961 that was a Rabbit looming over a replica of their building on Hill Street in Los Angeles. Lance’s data sheet not only covers the issue date and dimensions of the replica, but also supplies pictures of bank advertisements utilizing the Rabbit or “Bunny Bucks” as it was later known. There is even an advertisement depicting the Rabbit Bank, itself.
Coast Federal Savings & Loan, Assn. Banthrico Bank Data Sheet. Pg. 1 of 3 Pages.
The book illustrations are colorful, informative, and instructive. The organization is outstanding. If you ever want to develop a catalogue of your collection, Lance has laid out a format that makes you want to start doing it today.
SBCS Members can download the electronic file in the Members Only section of this website.
SBCS 