Thursday, January 21, 2010

12198 The First National Bank of HOLBROOK

1922 - Chartered in May with $25,000 capital
1960 - Chairman of the Board is Bing Crosby (Not that Bing Crosby...)
1962 - Title changed to First-Navajo National Bank, Holbrook
1968 - Merged into Great Western Bank, which eventually became part of Citibank
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Judging by this snippet from a 1922 Holbrook paper...

...This postcard would picture the original location of the bank
 
Modern day - In the earlier day, the bank expanded to the entire building as the drug store moved a short distance to the north.


                                   Promotional item from the 1950's

                From a bank bag of the second title of the bank (1962-8)

After at first expanding to whole building, the bank moved 1/4 mile to the north in the 1950's (Now a Wells Fargo branch)

Despite the small population of Holbrook itself, this small bank held on to well beyond the end of the note issuing period. By all accounts it was well run, and served a comparatively large geographic area, not just the average 1500 residents of Holbrook proper, It only issued $5's, with a modest number of large and small notes. Of 13 documented large examples, seven are from the "Snowflake Hoard" (See Reference Page), whose condition can best be described as zombie-like. Small size is significantly rarer, with only four examples are known as of January 2019 (Heritage), only two of which have been seen publicly in over three decades.

An example from the "Snowflake Hoard"

Statehood Issues
Series 1902 - Plain Back
$5-$5-$5-$5 #1 - 3837 ($76,740)
$5's = 15,348

Above average non "Snowflake Hoard" example, a 1902 Plain Back with both a geographical sorting letter (P), as well a Treasury serial number :


                      ----------------------------------------------------------
Series 1929 - Type 1
6 x $5 # 1 - 1434 ($43,020)
$5's = 8,604

Series 1929 - Type 2
$5 # 1 - 2332 ($11,660)
$5's = 2,332
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Total Large = 15,348
Total Small = 10,936
Total Notes = 26,284

Total Circulation = $131,420
Outstanding July 1935 = $9,800
Large out July 1935 = $340

2 comments:

  1. Not "the" Bing Crosby, however, for the Holbrook bank. It was a different man who used the same name. He lived out on McLaws Road, sw of town.

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  2. Despite several internet sources stating he WAS the man, I have a strong feeling you are most likely correct, so I've edited the post to reflect same until I find out otherwise.

    ReplyDelete