From The Glory That Was Buffalo department

The glory isn't always glorious, but it certainly might be fun, like a mechanical bank manufactured in Buffalo I read about today.

Buffalo's Shepard Hardware Company was famous for its delightful mechanical banks. One of the most delightful recently sold for $1673 at the Heritage Auction. It's a Jonah and the Whale bank designed by Peter Adams about 1890. Jonah is a captive in a boat, held by a red-robed man with long white hair who looks suspiciously like God. The deity is trying to throw poor Jonah into the jaws of a whale. Put a coin on top of Jonah's head, press the lever, and God thrusts Jonah forward. Fortunately only the coin slides into the smacking jaws of the whale. God pulls Jonah back from the brink. That is, until someone else puts a coin on his head. Is there a lesson here?

-Marilyn M. Fisher