Chamber Pots
1905 Encased cent -Obverse reads: "SOUVENIR / NIAGARA FALLS / GOOD LUCK / I HAVE BEEN TO NIAGRA FALLS AND GOT CLEANED
Reverse of 1905 Niagra Falls lucky penny. It reads:"GO WAY BACK AND SIT DOWN / A POT FULL OF MONEY / KEEP ME AND NEVER GET CAUGHT SHORT"
The above yellow plastic encased chamber pot style only has a slogan on the obverse, "Good When You are Caught Short". There is a double meaning IMHO. The Chamber Pot" having is's intended use so if caught short you could use the chamber pot. Second is caught short of cash then you have the encased cent to prevent you from being short. (-Editor)
This encased chamber pot article below in yellow was submitted by Bill Groom.
An eBay seller described this item as follows: "Lucky Penny in its original figural case … it's from Niagara Falls and is a coffee cup design ..." I had to chuckle at the obvious multi-generation gap at play here. A child of the mid-twentieth century, I had never used one of these containers. As an antique collector of sorts, I immediately recognized his "coffee cup" as a chamber pot! I couldn't help but wonder how many others, upon seeing this description, might have gotten flushed with laughter?
The days of outhouses and chamber pots are now thankfully behind us. Today's history books would not waste paper on such trivial matters of life as once it was. It's all now well beyond our rear-view mirrors. A coffee cup indeed … looks more like a casserole dish to me!
In my research of the phrase, "Go way back and sit down", I found that it referred to a popular song that had been sung going back into the 1880s and was published by Elmer Brown and Al Johns in 1901.
The song was sung by Dan Quinn The Jazz Singer 1927. I won't post the lyrics as they contain a racial slur (-Editor)
Keeping in mind that I was not around when that song was written, it appears to refer to someone who was a skinflint and never treated! The phrase "A POT FULL OF MONEY / KEEP ME AND NEVER BE CAUGHT SHORT", implies that you would not have to be a skinflint as you'd have money.
The legend says a lot… "SOUVENIR OF NIAGARA FALLS / GOOD LUCK / I HAVE BEEN TO NIAGARA FALLS AND GOT CLEANED". The reverse reads - "GO WAY BACK AND SIT DOWN / A POT FULL OF MONEY / KEEP ME AND NEVER BE CAUGHT SHORT". Likely, the original buyers of these souvenirs understood and appreciated the humor it conveyed. Times have changed in the past hundred years though, and messages from over 100 years ago isn't as appropriate or understood.
This is a variation of the Chamber pot encased. The difference is the encasement is steel. 1940 Cent - Obverse reads: "GOOD WHEN CAUGHT SHORT"
Reverse of the steel chamber pot. Reverse shows the text from the obverse in reverse.
I bought the piece above recently on eBay. It caught my attention for several reasons. One, it is something I don't have. Two, it is smooth and shiny, as opposed to the traditional aluminum encased cent. Third, there is no legend or message on the reverse. Fourth, the legend is incuse not raised. I magnet tested it when I received it recently and it is steel. Finally, I like the patina and worn look of the coin and encasement. Shiny MS encased coins are neat, but there is something special about a circulated piece. It gave was enjoyed by someone or better more than one. Kept in a pocket? Passed on from family member to family member? Or from one young owner to another in a baseball card trade? Who knows? But it is fun to speculate.
There in my experience two types of encased chamber pots. The traditional one as seen above with the 1905 Niagara Falls, which has an aluminum encasement, and a variety of sayings. The other uses the same shape, but different encasement materials. Plastic and steel are shown here. This type has a smooth blank reverse or in the case of the steel chamber pot the legend shows through. But they both have the same, "GOOD WHEN CAUGHT SHORT" legend following the curve of the chamber pot. I am sure there are others out in the wild, but the chamber pot style has not been used for many years that. Mostly because in 2021 the use of chamber pots is mostly unknown. AS seen above in the reference to it being a "coffee cup". I don't think I would want to drink out of one!
Chamber pot 1906 cent - Obverses reads: GO WAY BACK AND SIT DOWN / KEEP ME AND NEVER BE CAUGHT SHORT
Chamber pot 1906 cent -SOUVENIR OF WASHINGTON, / D.C. / GOOD / LUCK
the good is left of cent and luck on right. Across the bottom is: I HAVE BEEN TO WAHSINGTON, D.C. AND BEEN CLEANED OUT
1905 Chamber pot - Obverse reads: I AM YOUR MASCOT / KEEP ME AND NEVER GO BROKE
1905 Chamber pot - Reverse reads: GO WAY BACK AND SIT DOWN / KEEP ME AND NEVER BE CAUGHT SHORT
The George G. Wright and Sons encased uses script indtead of block letters and the company is still in business today in Cincinatti, Ohio. The 1905 chamber pot is more traditional and uses stock dies for both sides.
1899 Chamber pot cent - Reverse reads: In script - GREG G. Wright & Son / MEDALS / CHRCKS / BADGES / ...ETC. / 112 & 114 LONGWORTH ST. / CIN'T / OHIO
They are still in business today.
This is 112 Longworth St. the address on the chamber pot. The company is still in business in Cincinatti, Ohio. Image courtesy of Greg Wright & Sons.
1899 Chamber pot cent - Obverses reads: GO WAY BACK AND SIT DOWN / KEEP ME AND NEVER BE CAUGHT SHORT
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