Trinity Smith
This little piggy [bank] never made it to the market – instead we found it buried under 30 cm of rock and soil!
Piggy banks made their debut in the beginning of the 19th century and by the 20th century they were incredibly popular worldwide. After some serious investigating [one google search by Kate] we found that it was created by the Canadian owned toy company: Reliable. The unique thing about this piggy bank is not only its design [a clock!] but the atypical way it was manufactured. It was created using injectable plastic mold technology. As plastics became more and more popular, the founders of the Reliable toy company utilized their advanced technology and produced hundreds of different toys making them one of the largest toy factories in the British Empire by 1935.
They didn’t stop there! In the 1940’s the founders made a deal with the Canadian Government, by utilizing their expertise in injectable plastics they helped produced mass amounts of wartime supplies, including plastic bullet tips and other gun accessories.
What’s even more fascinating is that this company is family owned! Alex, Ben and Solomon Frank Samuels were brothers who originally worked out of a small shop in downtown Toronto, making dolls and smaller novelties before their business grew. Despite its popularity, nothing can stay the same forever. By 1985 the company was purchased by the Allied group [a company that produces and distributes different kinds of plastic components for an array of products.] but don’t fret! The Canadian history museum preserved its history within their collections and in 2018 the significance of this company was acknowledged by Heritage Toronto.
While not much can be said about the piggy bank’s contents as much of it was destroyed over the years being in the ground, it does give some insight into the lives of the people who lived on the property. It is suspected that this belonged to a child who used to reside in the house. Not only is this supported by the fact that piggy banks were advertised towards children but during this dig we’ve found multiple other artifacts that strengthen the assumption that children were present during the occupation period of this house – including creepy doll faces and toy trains!