Harold Blau’s Rich Collection Life
Published in the December 2023 Penny Bank Post | Written by Rona Blau
Even as a young boy, Harold Blau was a collector. He grew up very poor in a walk-up apartment in Brooklyn, New York. On trash day, he would wander through the local streets looking for interesting things that he could pick up and trade for “tickets” (baseball cards).
The story goes that Harold was eyeing a particularly expensive cast iron wagon with horses at the local candy and soda shop. He knew that his mother was saving coins in a jar for new curtains. Harold told his mother that he was going to the store to check if there were any phone calls for them. They did not have a telephone, so the family knew to reach them by calling the candy store and leaving messages there. He snuck in the new toy purchased with the pilfered curtain jar funds and placed it carefully under his sofa bed in the living room. (He had no room of his own in the small apartment.) Naturally, his mother discovered the missing money and quickly solved the mystery. She made him return his treasure.
Harold vowed that someday he would have a room filled with cast iron toys. Wish fulfilled! In 1983, Harold and I spotted several Banthrico banks at a garage sale. We were certain that we made a big score . . .
