The Buster Brown “trivet”

I bought this little 4 3/8 x 3 3/4″ cast iron trivet about 15 years ago. The detailed design features Buster Brown and his little dog Tige. The back is flat with backcoping and marked with a small ‘4’. It appears in my second book The Expanded Z-Z Guide To Collecting Trivets on page 77.

In browsing eBay this week I stumbled upon several Buster Brown Banks which varied in price according to condition. Right away you’ll discover what I did … that my “trivet” may have once attached to this bank! I took my casting off the wall and, sure enough, there was faint evidence that the bolt attachment had been removed and filed away. However, my trivet is solid along the rim whereas the bank has openings along the horseshoe edge.

The bank measures 4 1/8″ high and 5″ wide and was manufactured by the Arcade Toy Company of Freeport, Illinois from 1908 to 1932. In the two images below, note where the horseshoe attached to the horse. (Click the images to enlarge.)