Smash Acts! "Jug Breakings" of the 1870s and beyond

 In the 1870s, America experienced a curious revival of the old English moneybox tradition. The moneybox, or ‘money jug’ as it was known here, became the feature attraction of a popular fundraising event, the “Jug Breaking”. Weeks or months before a set date, children were given small earthen ‘jugs’ with no opening save for a coin slot and sent out into the community in search of donations. The Breaking itself often consisted of a program of various entertainments such as singing and storytelling, music and talent shows, punctuated by the breaking of the jugs. At the close of the evening, the coins were counted and the top collectors received prizes for their efforts. Jug breakings proliferated in the last quarter of the 19^th century, generating considerable funds for church buildings, libraries, fraternal orders, teachers’ salaries, and even missionary work around the world. As might be expected, the tradition also had strong ties to the temperance movement. Although its heyday appears to have been from the late 1870s to the early 1900s, Jug Breakings continue to be held to this day in a few churches.  I have explored these and other aspects of  these 'smash acts' in a forthcoming article.

The vessels used at Breakings were often of a specific form, produced in bulk by yet-to-be identified potteries. Here are a few the jugs- note the slight differences in shape, handles, and necks. Several accounts describe jugs being painted (generally brown but sometimes gold) and lettered or tagged with the names of children.

Sources for this research come from American and Canadian newspapers, chiefly of the 1870s to 1920s, from Ontario to Florida and from Maine to Hawaii!