Brass Balls and Bold Statements
In the 1970s, a Lucite cube with two brass balls changed the tone of financial commemoratives. Deal toys had evolved from formal to fearless—bold symbols of what it took to close the deal.
How Lucite Changed Everything
Lucite was never made for Wall Street—but it turned out to be the perfect medium for capturing the spirit of a deal. This is how one wartime material laid the foundation for the modern deal toy.
How Tombstone Ads Gave Rise to the Modern Deal Toy
Before deal toys existed, there were tombstone ads—plain, regulated newspaper notices that quietly changed how Wall Street marked deals. This was the first step toward the modern financial tombstone.
The Origins of Deal Toys
Long before modern finance, people were already marking deals with meaningful objects—silver plates, tokens, clocks. This impulse to make success tangible is centuries old. Today, we call them deal toys.