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.
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.
A selection of approximately 25 souvenir buildings from Bob Kneisel’s Collection will be among the many offerings at the 2018 SBCS Convention SWAP MEET and AUCTION. Ten of Kneisel’s buildings are shown below. Don’t miss out on this opportunity at the 2018 SBCS Convention in Boston, July 13 – 15.Here is a link to the Registration Information.
Convention Goodie Bag with brochures, maps, and schedule. 2017 Convention Building Souvenir: Wrigley Building Bank
Memories of: Architecture, Friends, FLW, the Bean, Museums, the River, Shopping, Swapping, and lots of Little Buildings! They’ve all been packed up and are headed for home ……………….
Jay at the Swap Meet checking out the buildings.
Carolyn’s haul is photographed in front of the iconic parking garage.
Elizabeth and Joe selling Souvenir Buildings at Chicago’s Randolph Street Market.
Alaska State Bank, Museum of Science and Industry, Grand Coulee Dam
Hollywood Bowl and Big Ben from Raffle 2017.
Lincoln, Wrigley Building
Chris delivering the Kneisel Report at the 2017 SBCS Business Meeting
One of the Dog Sculpture guarding the entrance to the Homewood Suites, Downtown – the SBCS Convention hotel.
Magic Mountain Coaster
Kudos to Mark and Michael for a well-executed Convention with lots of options, camaraderie, and plenty of opportunities for acquisition of small buildings. As plans for the next conventions crystallize they will be conveyed via The Journal of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society and this website.
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.
Chicago 2017 – 52 Days and Counting!
I hope you’re as excited as we are about the Convention. Our Canadian members just celebrated Canada Day July 1, and it’s July 4th for most of the rest of us… our apologies to The Netherlands! August 25th will be here before you know it, and we will be in Chicago, the windy city. Ya know, Windy City is not about the breeze coming off Lake Michigan. It’s what New Yorkers thought about the non-stop speaking of the Chicago delegation in NYC who were determined to convince the World’s Fair Committee that they were the right city to celebrate the Columbian Exposition. They didn’t stop talking until they won that honor, earning them the nickname Windy City, and creating the White City in 1893.
Great Wheel, George Ferris, 1893, Chicago
The Rookery – Burnham & Root 1888, LaSalle & Adams St. Chicago
1905 Frank Lloyd Wright Renovation of Rookery Lobby
History of Chicago & Sunday Walking Tour
Chicago native Joan Kane will be at the convention this year. At our Friday night reception Joan will deliver a short talk about the History of Chicago.
On Sunday Joan will lead an early-morning walking tour along Dearborn St. where we will see an architectural history of Chicago, from old to new!
FUN FACT – Grant Park is built on cinders of the 1871 Great Fire of Chicago.
Registration: Early Registration Deadline is July 10!
Fellow SBCS’ers. It’s time to register. In fact, let’s sweeten the pot. If you have your registration and payment in to Katharine by July 10, not only will you skip the late fee, we will enter all of your names into a draw for one of three Early Bird Prizes! Yes… Prizes! We like that.
The Frank Lloyd Wright bus tour is going to be amazing. No other way to describe it. Three hours of FLW – what else could you ask for? To book this private bus tour we had to promise a minimum of 25 bums in seats, so be sure to sign up for a seat on this fabulous FLW adventure.
Saturday’s Swap and Shop
This past week, the Bob Kneisel Collection Committee sent Michael and I a list of all the Kneisel buildings and monuments that are going to be in Chicago for the Swap Meet and the Auction. Yow! We want them all. Be sure you are in the room when these are unleashed. Here are a few examples.
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Pizza Night
For all of you who are arriving before Friday, Michael Emrick will be organizing a Thursday Pizza Night. More time to schmooze. Stay tuned for details.
Registration… Registration ….REGISTRATION!
We are looking forward to a flood of registrations this next week or so.
Please fill out your registration form and send it to Katharine. Click here to access the Registration Form
Book your room now: Click here for the Homewood Suites SBCS Member Reservations. Our block of rooms is almost booked up.
We may be able to add a few rooms, but we’d have to do that soon.
Please book as soon as possible to get SBCS’ amazing rate. The Homewood Suites are just 350 feet from the GRAND/STATE STREET Red Line Station and easy connections from the airports and to the famous LOOP.
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!
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 