My Cash Box is a Wooden Piggy Bank

I was thinking about cash boxes, their design anddrawer and when the drawer of the cash box was
construction. The original cash box was literally that aopened a built in bell rang. This was the precursor of
wooden box carved from a single piece of seasonedthe mechanical cash till which also had a cash drawer
wood and with a lid in which cash was stored.. Theand a display of the money taken. A more recent
very first cash boxes did not have locks as they haddevelopment of the cash box is that they have
not been invented and the valuables inside werebecome electronic with a digital display and computer
protected by being hidden or kept in a place that waslinked to electronic point of sale equipment.
occupied constantly.Another form of the cash box is the piggy bank which
Over the years wood and metal working skillsis used by children to save their pocket money usually
developed - the wooden cash box generally increasedin the form of small coins. The designation Piggy,
in size as the jointing skills developed. Then the cashaccording to Wikipedia derived from pygge which is
box was made more secure by the use of metalthe clay that the original money storage jar was
banding and the provision of locks although the earliestmanufactured from. In order to remove the saved
locks were made of wood. These timber locks werecontents the clay pig had to be broken open
not fitted to cash boxes as the keys were very largedestroying it.
and resembled a back scrubbing brush with a smallSubsequently wooden piggy banks have been
number of wooden teeth. As locks improved the cashmanufactured which can be opened without
box was able to be reduced in size and eventually, bydestroying them. These wooden piggy banks take
manufacturing them in metal they could be portablemany forms and do not have to be porcine! There are
cash boxes. Obviously the larger size was then calledall sorts of different shapes although the wooden
a safe or even a vault.piggy bank is most common I have seen sheep, cows,
So who uses cash boxes? In the past retailers usedbears and even Simpsons Characters. My favorite
cash boxes for the daily takings in the shop. Thesewooden piggy bank is actually in the shape of a Wells
cash boxes often had a drawer in the base and asFargo cash transportation wagon complete with a
the years went on they incorporated a paper roll thatlocking brass cash box door.
was used to record the money placed in the cash