WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. – A Bowling Alley cast iron mechanical bank ruled the roost at RSL Auction Company’s April 4-5 sale when it sold for $87,000. Circa 1879 by Philadelphia company Kyser & Rex, the Bowling Alley bank is a rarity and few are known. The bank had provenance to the Gertrude Hegarty, Al Davidson and Frank Kidd collections.
The auction house wrote, “In her book on toy banks, Ina Bellows records that as early as 1940, several collectors claimed to have seen an example of the elusive Bowling Alley, but no definitive corroborative photographic evidence surfaced at that time. It was whispered about as a sort of toy bank Loch Ness Monster. Not until Colvert and Gertrude Hegarty revealed to fellow bank enthusiasts that they had discovered and acquired an all-original specimen of the Bowling Alley did a wider audience get to look at and review the bank on its merits.”
Watch for a full review in a future issue.