For many children, myself included, our experience with banking started out with a simple coin bank. Kind relatives would give me a penny or two to drop through the slot so I could hear the coins rattling.
Then there was the Conway National Bank. My parents banked there and I had my own savings account where I would deposit my teenage earnings, and then I could withdraw money to buy school clothes, gifts, etc. It’s amazing how thrifty you become when it’s your own money you’re withdrawing.
Who remembers the Crocker Institution for Savings in Turners Falls? It’s now home to The Country Creemee, and I’m sure Charlie Higginbotham and Austin Blood would be shocked to see enormous ice cream cones and tasty grinders coming from their dignified bank. I seem to recall Don Girard as a new young teller there.
The Crocker Institution for Savings approved the mortgage on our first home in Montague Center, in the mid-1950s. The day the men came through to inspect the property, I was baking cupcakes and set out a plate for them. Do you suppose that “sweetened the deal?”
The Greenfield Savings Bank, though, has indeed been our “hometown bank” for many years. There were mortgages for other homes, car loans; I remember the day I didn’t have to have my husband be the co-signer on the car I was buying for myself! I also opened my own checking account there in 1971. We women were at last being regarded as competent adults.
I like going into the bank there, too; all the staff are a pleasure to meet face-to-face. Our local bankers are here to help in matters both big and small, including just getting a few rolls of quarters to use at the laundromat.
While I was sorting through one of my bookcases recently, I found two souvenir booklets published by two local banks, now long gone. One, which is really fascinating, celebrates 100 years of the Greenfield National Bank (1822 to 1922). It’s a town history with old photos. The bank must have played a large part in Greenfield’s growth, as the fourth president of the bank, George W. Clapp, put up his own land on Federal Street and his own money to build a town hall. It opened in March 1840 for annual Town Meeting.
There is a photo of the Franklin County Trust Company, a handsome Victorian building with matching Gothic arched windows that now houses TD Bank. Next to that was the Franklin Savings Institution, a truly beautiful building of white stone. Notice the bas-relief “coins” filling the spaces between the arched windows. It’s now known as The Pushkin, an occasional entertainment venue. It’s an attractive anchor for that corner of Main and Federal streets.
The second booklet features 125 stories collected for the 125th anniversary of the First National Bank and Trust Company in Greenfield. It features many glimpses into life as it was lived here in the 1800s and beyond. Parts of this gem include:
“The 66-Hour Week: Being a clerk at the First National Bank in the 1880s was no easy life. Arriving at 6 a.m., he had to fix the fires, sweep and dust the rooms, change the ink in the inkwells, and in winter, shovel snow. He then must hurry home, change his clothes, eat breakfast and be back at the bank for 9 a.m. for his days’ work, which lasted until 5 p.m. or after. This went on six days a week.”
We are fortunate to have several banks here in Greenfield, as well as credit unions, each with features that suit their customers, and that are generous in their support of local activities.