In The 1960's, Banks Were 'Flashy, Lovable And Open Handed'

Time Inc.There are obvious differences between the banks of yore and the giant institutions where our salaries get direct-deposited today.

In the 1960s, bank tellers were real bank tellers. And it was a time when the economy was doing well, interest rates were high, and the average American had more discretionary income than ever before.

The average man was spending so much money, that he had started to borrow money in order to do so. And the banks more than willing to oblige.

Here's an excerpt from "Our Flashy, Lovable, Open-Handed Banks," by Herbert Brean, published on May 9, 1960 in the now defunct LIFE magazine.

"Once banks were put-in institutions," commented a New York banker recently, 'Now they are take-out institutions.' The modern banker doesn't wait for you to ask for money. He presses it on you. Many banks today will encourage a new customer to write checks before he has deposited a nickel. 'You're not borrowing enough," a Salt Lake City banker enthusiastically upbraids his customers. "Take some more!'"

And because business was booming, older commercial banks were facing fierce competition from savings and loans associations and new upstarts banks who wanted in on the action. But deposit rate ceilings were in place back then, and this meant that such financial institutions couldn't compete on rates.

First, they gave away absurd amounts of free stuff.

"When a customer opens a savings account in a modern bank, he may reasonably expect a premium or giveaway, but he is not getting his money's worth if he accepts free flower seeds, flowering shrubs or dwarf palms. These are passé. When the Gibraltar Savings and Loan Association opened a new office in Beverly Hills last year, it commemorated the event by raffling off a new car, a blue mink stole, a color TV set and a dozen transistor radios. It fed and entertained new customers and gave them 5,000 sets of stainless steel flatware, 1,000 cigarette lighters and 3,000 desk memo pads."

In the 1960s banks gave away wall clocks, dinnerware, sterling silver candlestick compotes, coffeemakers, kitchen cutlery sets, lady's billfolds, photo albums, cameras, bird-cage planters, cleaver sets, record albums, scholarships etc. At Christmas, the Manhattan Savings bank would flood its lobby to stage an ice-skating show. Later, the bank would drain the lobby, and host a dog show featuring "midget handlers."

The "average man" wasn't enough business for these banks, so they started targeting women. They would lure them in with powder rooms and free lessons on subjects like "how to install a zipper." They also targeted children.

"Deposits may come in nickels and dimes, but BOA (Bank of America) finds it profitable to send representatives to collect them. Society National Bank of Cleveland has a similar program—with sixth graders as tellers. At this bank's main office, juvenile business is transacted in a special room with a low counter to enable 10-year-olds to look the teller in the eye and appraise his trustworthiness."

Of course, those days are long gone.

Read the full article by Herbert Brean here.