Two later designs incorporated the Coat of Arms of Birmingham Corporation.

 

A smaller safe (right)  was made with a polished nickel finish, and was manufactured by the Automatic Recording Safe Co Ltd.,

London

 

 

The slot for coin insertion is below the handle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Right) The original design of Home Safe that was introduced in 1922.

 

This particular design measured (mm):

    length 110

    width    60

    height  70

and weighed approximately 525 grams

 

 

The  manufacturers of this design of safe were:

 

 

(photograph by Norman Worwood)

The third type of Home Safe was made in a book design. This design was also used by many other financial institutions including the Post Office and Sheffield Savings Bank.

 

 

The manufacturer, however, was the Birmingham-based company, Pearson-Page-Dewsbury Co Ltd.

 

 

The book design measured (mm):

These images are all from an original design of safe (number 70796, manufactured by Taylor Law & Co Ltd of Birmingham). They show the keyhole in the base; coin slot; hole for rolled up bank notes; and interior views of the lock mechanism and flap to prevent coins being extracted other than by the Bank's key

 

(Safe preserved by David Jackson;

    photographs by David Parkes)

All new Home Safes were delivered from the manufacturer in an individual cardboard box. This 'book' safe (number 28650) is shown with its original box.

 

A second photograph of the same safe shows the deposit hole and slot, alongside the manufacturer's name, along the top

 

 

Three aspects of the small safe manufactured by the Automatic Recording Safe Company -

this example (numbered 02669) was preserved by Nadia Macis and photographed by David Parkes

After many of the original Home Safes had been in existence for over 40 years, a number of them were badly in need of refurbishment.

 

However, providing a new exterior finish tended to obscure the Bank's name, as compared with the original

In the late 1960s, the Bank began selling 'Thrifty Boxes' which were issued with their own key.

 

 

The Bank ceased issuing free Home Safes in 1974.