A Rare 19th Century Connecticut-Made Red Earthenware Money Box with a Wonderful Inscription

According to an article, 'A Hole in One? or In Search of Piggy Banks and Christmas Boxes,' which was written by Ivor Noel Hume, "In England, ceramic containers for saved coins have long been known as 'money boxes' or 'Christmas boxes,' whereas in America they are called piggy banks. The latter term (piggy bank) is included in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary but, surprisingly, cites that it is first used in 1941."

Presumably, then, some/many/all eighteenth and nineteenth century American (and Canadian) red earthenware and stoneware potters must have been using similar terminology for the banks they produced. Although, I was recently surprised when a New Hampshire collector contacted me with an unusual tree trunk-formed painted red earthenware 'bank' or 'money box' that was made at the Goodwin Brothers Pottery in West Hartford, Connecticut after 1870.

The West Hartford Historical Society briefly sums up the significance of the Goodwin family today: "Early on, grist saw, and carding mills along with blacksmith shops, tanneries and general stores emerged around the (West Hartford) community to support and help drive agriculture. One of the first major industries to arise centered on the pottery and brick works. Extending from Hartford to Berlin is a sizable deposit of fine clay. In 1770, Ebenezer Faxon came from Massachusetts and settled in what would become the Elmwood section of West Hartford. There he established a pottery on South Road (what is today New Britain Avenue) which took advantage of the local geographical landscape. It was Seth Goodwin, however, who helped to establish a pottery dynasty. Goodwin started his pottery works around 1798. For over a hundred years, the Goodwin name would be associated with West Hartford Pottery. Producing utilitarian items such as jugs for the gin manufactured in local distilleries, to terra cotta designs and fine china, the Goodwin Company employed up to 75 people in its heyday. The Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company (as it came to be known) burned for the third time in 1908 and never recovered."

According to Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potter's and Their Wares), "Seth Goodwin's nephew, Harvey Goodwin, born in 1802, (also) became a potter. His first venture was in (nearby) Torrington, Connecticut (possibly Goshen), where he lived for four years. Returning to West Hartford, he worked for his uncle until 1832 (producing redware), then started an enterprise of his own. This pottery ran until 1870 under his management and was carried on in its later days by his sons Harvey Burdett Goodwin and Wilbur Elmore Goodwin as 'Goodwin Bros.' Their shop stood on the south side of New Britain Avenue just east of the railroad tracks (in West Hartford)."

It is inscribed on the base of this painted tree-trunk formed object, "Money Box / Made By The / Goodwin Bros / Elmwood, Conn." This bank must serve as actual proof that the term 'money box' was regularly used by American (and Canadian) utilitarian potters before 1941, as opposed to the terminology that Ivor Noel Hume's cites, which was not regularly used until 1941 according to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

Rare Goodwin Brothers Pottery Bank from Connecticut

19th Century Tree Trunk Formed Painted Red Earthenware Money Box

Made at the Goodwin Bros. Pottery - West Hartford, CT

Base Inscribed 'Money Box / Made By The / Goodwin Bros / Elmwood, Conn'

Stands Approximately 5" Tall

Circa 1870-1908
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private New Hampshire Collection

View of the Base

Inscribed 'Money Box / Made By The / Goodwin Bros / Elmwood, Conn'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private New Hampshire Collection

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