FOSTORIAN'S COLLECTION OF TOY
BANKS, ANTIQUES, ONE OF BEST
By HARRY FRONT

          "Brethren and sistren, ifn't you wants to be saved, you does as the Good Book tells tou," might have been the New Minister's message, the while Gen. U. S. Grant sat in his easy chair, nonchalantly puffing away at a cigarette. All the while, the little bird in a gilded cage kept chirping merrily, while the Housewife Churner was busy at her churn, and the colored musicians played away and the village dancer did his stuff.
          Yes, it sounds a little silly, but if you were in the First National Bank's board of directors' room, and saw what the writer witnessed, you wouldn't be surprised.
Views Collection
          It was our privilege to be the guest of Andrew Emerine, collector par excellence, who was showing us the various mechanical toys, now a rarity, the many toy banks and the assorted collection of weapons and bottles of which he prides himself so highly.
          Mr. Emerine is one of the seven outstanding bank and toy collectors on the continent. The other six are John D. Meyer, Tyrone, Pa.; Dr. W. G. Downes, Hartford, Conn.; F. W. Wieder, Berkeley, Calif.; Dr. A. E. Corby, Wm. F. Ferguson of the Bank for Savings and Thorton C. Thayer, The Seaman's Bank for Savings, all of New York City.
          Mr. Emerine, whose collection ranks second to that of Dr. Corby's was honored some months ago on a Canadian broadcast, when Claire Wallace featured him on the "They Tell Me" program. During the broadcast she told of Mr. Emerine's collection of toy banks. The smallest is a two inch top hat. One of the most cherished is the "Freedman Minstrel" who snatches the coin, the while he waves his hand and nods in approval.
Collectors' Items Now
          It is believed that 95 per cent of toy banks are now in the hands of collectors. These cast iron, painted novelties were once household standbys. Some ranged in price from ten cents to seven and eight dollars. The latter figure applied to the mechanical toy banks.
          The Emerine collection includes such rare specimens as Gen. U. S. Grant, the Bird in a cage, the colored dancing group, an original "jitterbug," the Old Deacon, the colored village scene, the Maid Churner, the Wash Women, the Acrobat, and many others.
          Among his mechanical toys, the Flower Girl with music box effects is outstanding. Then, there is Prof. Pug Frog; the dentist, who receives a coin in his coat pocket, simulates extraction of a tooth, with the patient being dumped out of the chair; the Afghanistan Bank; Little Red Riding Hood, wherein the grandmother raises her mask revealing the wolf, after the coin has been inserted; the Mikado; John Bull's Money Box, which was adopted by many English commercial banks as a means of raising funds for Belgian Relief after World War I and which Mr. Emerine acquired in England; the Monkey and Cocoanut; the Bulldog , another rarity, and many others.
Other Antiques
          Walking away from the bank and mechanical toy collection we saw the antiques in weapons and musketry. There are many pieces, some exceptionally rare, but the two which attracted this writer's attention were canes, of which we once attempted to make a collection.
          One is a Chinese sword cane. By a simple twist of the head of the cane, one extracts a sharp and lethal sword. It is sharp, as the cut on our thumb will indicate.
          The other, somewhat larger, is a gun cane. A twist of the hand-grasp, a slip of the ornamental, and the gun is ready to be fired. Fortunately for us, it wasn't loaded when we experimented with it.
Glass Blower's Art
          The collection of bottles represents many rare specimens, antiques in the glass blower's art. Some are medicine bottles, others contained spirits which are so difficult to secure now in any kind of a bottle.
          Mr. Emerine would not place a dollars and cents value on his collection, adding that none of the items were for sale. It is a hobby in which he has indulged for the past 20 years. His specimens came from all corners of the earth, and — as all collectors — he is ever ready to make what additions opportunities might make possible.