-Flatiron Building Bank c. 1904s

Editor: So, this is "-Flatiron Building Bank" made around the 1900s by Kenton Hardware Manufacturing Co. It's metal, meant to look like the Flatiron building in New York City. I’m struck by its weight and texture...almost a tarnished, aged feel despite being a replica. What do you see in it? Curator: I see more than a simple architectural model. This object carries the weight of aspiration and industrial might. It’s not merely the Flatiron building rendered in miniature, it's a symbol of early 20th-century optimism. Notice the deliberate details – the rows of windows, the sharp angle… how might those aspects speak to cultural memory? Editor: Well, the Flatiron building was such a novel design… I guess having a bank shaped like it implies modernity and progress? A secure future, maybe? Curator: Precisely! Consider this: banks safeguard collective wealth, while skyscrapers boldly pierce the sky. Combining them creates a potent symbol of financial power and societal ambition. It's iconography, rendered in metal, projecting invincibility. Does the aged texture play into that symbolism, do you think? Editor: Good point! I had thought it just made it feel old, but it kind of makes it seem like the staying power of that early 20th-century confidence… Curator: Exactly. These objects encode cultural dreams; recognizing these symbols help us better read not just art, but the human condition. Editor: That's a whole new level of looking at everyday objects, not just artworks! Thanks for showing me that. Curator: My pleasure; these resonances live in us all, and influence what we take as ‘common’ sense, every day.