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Hubley Banks & Toys

Hubley Manufacturing Company began operation in 1894 and was located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They expanded their basic line of toys in the 1920s to include bookends, ashtrays, and doorstops.

Unlike most other companies who produced toys and banks as a profitable sidelines to their hardware manufacturing, John Hubley, the founder of the Hubley Manufacturing Company, emphasized toy and bank manufacturing from the very beginning. The company used the patterns of other companies, such as Wing Company of Ohio, to produce its earliest banks. Later, beginning in 1906, the Hubley Manufacturing Company introduced its own unique patterns that were actually designed by leading artists of the era. These sculptors, however, refused to lend their names to the innovation of these patterns because they feared that they would lose their status in the art world. The company expanded their basic line of toys in the 1920s to include bookends, ashtrays, and doorstops.

In 1914, Hubley entered into a contract with well-know cartoonist Grace Drayton to produce banks of her famous wide-eyed characters, such as Puppo, Fido and Cutie. The company continuously produced these popular character banks until the 1940's. After WWII, the Hubley manufacturing company introduced the production of paperweights that were modeled after their banks. These replicas are greatly sought after by today's collectors.