Ghost in the Machine

Greetings from the attic!

This week we are going to look at a little item I picked up about 10 years ago. It's not in great shape. Heck, it doesn't even work, but it's still really cool! I'm talking about the Brumberger Mystery Haunted House Bank! Here are a few pictures for you...

And now for a little history. This bank was produced in the 1960's by Brumberger. It was sold in various retail outlets and even by mail order (think comic book ads) but it really took off when a rather large company decided to use it in a promotion. The company was Disney and the promotion was for The Haunted Mansion!

Now, never mind that the bank looks nothing like the Disneyland (or Walt Disney World) Haunted Mansion.  It was close enough in concept to be sold in the park as a tie-in item. Now a lot of people think it was a Disney produced item. It wasn't. It was kind of like how rather typical Japanese puzzle boxes became Haunted Mansion Secret Panel Chests...but that's another story.

Anyway, the bank is really a thing of beauty. It's a roughly seven and a half inch cube of wonderfully lithographed tin. The top and base (both of which are chipped on mine) are made of plastic. There are supposed to be two plastic front doors (which mine is missing) that hide the draped, plastic ghost. When a coin was placed on the front steps, the porch light came on and the ghost came out and stood over the coin. He then went back into the house and the coin was GONE!

Mine does none of that. Apparently before I got it, someone decided to "work" on it and now several parts are missing. Still, I got mine for five bucks, and a working model can set you back several hundred, so I'm not too upset. It sits in my display cabinet in the study and just looks cool. That's all I really need it to do!

So, if you happen across one of these houses in a thrift store or flea market, snatch it up! ...just like the ghost does with all that loose change!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!