The World’s Largest “Strawberry Bank” Collection

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During three years writing my hardcover history of Strawbery Banke Museum in New Hampshire, I marinated in the subject. I was laser-focused on life in the Portsmouth South End waterfront, in the Puddle Dock neighborhood, and within the 10-acre border of the museum, conceived in 1958 and opened in 1965. Although I had a library of resources, leaving no stone unturned, I checked eBay almost daily for items I might have missed.

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You can guess what I found. Beyond the tourist postcards and guidebooks, all of which I had in hand, the online served up mostly piggy banks with a strawberry theme. Over time, since I’m an English major, I put in a few bids, just for a joke. But there were so many! variations! Snoopy and Hello Kitty on a strawberry. A squirrel, Strawberry Shortcake, a Mickey Mouse metal bank, a wooden bank from Russia, a strawberry-shaped purse–and on and on. Eventually, collecting “strawberry banks” became a bit of an obsession. The fact that the toys had absolutely nothing to do with the book I was writing gave the project a strange literary twist. 

SEE ALSO: Cry of the eBay Warrior

When the book was done, I donated the collection to the museum. I’m not sure the joke–The World’s Largest Strawberry Bank Collection– was as funny to the serious historians as it was to me. I insisted that the collection be on display somewhere. “Kids will love it,” I insisted. The next project arrived. I moved on. But picturing my unique little collection still makes me smile.  

Did the founders of Portsmouth actually settle in an area covered in wild strawberries? Or did they select the name in memory of a Strawberry Bank in England in the same way they named their towns Dover, Exeter, Hampton, Durham, etc. My research on that topic continues.

And what of the odd “ye olde” spelling of the museum? That  we know was an invention of a history buff, Ralph May, who created the spelling for a map designed in the 1930  In my book, when I am writing about the museum, I use the imaginary spelling “Strawbery Banke.” TO distinguish the modern museum from the original 17th-century Piscataqua colony, I use the spelling ‘Strawberry Bank.” Plimoth Plantation has struggled with the same effort to imitate early spelling since it opened in the 1950s. 

Of course, the original museum founders made the “berry” connection. Pictured above is a sketch of a strawberry bank designed by Muriel Howells for sale in the gift shop. The nonprofit group never got around to marketing the signature item. No need. There were plenty of manufacturers, totally by coincidence, who produced similar products. Here are some, but not all, of my artifacts. Enjoy.

(c) J. Dennis Robinson, all rights reserved.