The Lincoln High School Choir sang at Lincoln Branch of Puget Sound National Bank for Christmas 1951. Reno Odlin, president of the bank, can be seen next to the choir standing at the back on the right. The bank was located just across the street from the high school.

Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Odlin, Reno, 1897-1979; Choirs (Music); Students--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lincoln High School (Tacoma);

Merry-go-round at Bank of California, also showing a neon sign. Tacoma Savings and Loan.

Bank of California National Association (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Electric signs--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The March of Dimes merry-go-round operated in Bank of California's new parking lot at South 10th and A Streets. The bank set back their opening day for the new parking lot to assist with the polio drive. City buildings can be seen in the background. (TNT, 1/20/1952, p.C-15) TPL-8769

Bank of California National Association (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parking lots--Tacoma; Fund raising--Tacoma--1950-1960; National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (Tacoma); March of Dimes (Tacoma);

Central Bank held an open house for their new K Street branch at K street and South 12th. At the rear of the new facility were private offices for conferences, finished in walnut panels and divided by folding doors. Safe deposit booths, also finished in walnut and affording complete privacy, were also available in this area. This view shows the safety deposit box vault with the vault door open. The door to an office is open on the left. (TNT, 1/24/1952, p.9)

Bankers--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Banks--Tacoma; Central Bank (Tacoma); Vaults (Strong rooms)--Tacoma; Safe-deposit boxes--Tacoma;

Central Bank held an open house for their new K Street branch at K street and South 12th. The interior of the new facility was a pleasing harmony of colors and materials. Flooring was of rubber tile and the ceiling was finished in acoustical tile. Walls were finished in tones of green and gray. Attractive fixtures of ebony wood included the paying and receiving and savings cages, the real estate department and check-writing desks. Bouquets of congratulation are seen along the counters and dotted around on the floor. (TNT, 1/24/1952, p.9)

Bankers--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Banks--Tacoma; Central Bank (Tacoma);

Central Bank held an open house for their new K Street branch at the corner of K Street and South 12th January 25, 1952. This view shows the staff at the new branch with seven women standing behind five men seated in the front. P.W. Bourgaize, president of Central Bank, is seated in the middle. Central Bank opened for business on March 9, 1925, at the corner of 6th Avenue and Pine Street. The growth of Central Bank, leading to the extension of its banking facilities to the K Street district, is shown by the consistent rise of its assets, from $654,156.43 at the end of 1939 to $4,996,978.81 at the close of 1951. (TNT, 1/24/1952, p.9)

Bankers--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Banks--Tacoma; Central Bank (Tacoma)--People; Central Bank (Tacoma); Bourgaize, P.W.;

Open house at New Central Bank on K Street. Door to bank vault.

Business Enterprises - Financial Institutions - Banks - Tacoma - Central Bank

Outdoor teller windows at the National Bank of Washington annex provided an early form of drive-up banking. A neon sign announces, "Parking Reserved for Exterior Window Banking". A man is seen at one of the windows completing an transaction.

National Bank of Washington (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The recently opened National Bank of Washington annex on South 12th Street and Pacific Avenue, as photographed on February 6, 1952. Mondau's Tug Boat Restaurant can be seen next door (on the far right) at 1205 Pacific Avenue. Various automobiles are seen parked along South 12th Street.

National Bank of Washington (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mondau's Tug Boat Restaurant & Tavern (Tacoma);

Ray Gamble has brought a few of the carved elephants in his collection to display at the new offices of Central Bank. He and the staff at the new branch are seen behind the counter where the carved elephants are displayed. Tacoma businessman Ray Gamble owned the largest collection of elephants in the world.

Bankers--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Banks--Tacoma; Central Bank (Tacoma)--People; Central Bank (Tacoma); Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Collectors--Tacoma;

Progress photographs on construction of Puget Sound National Bank's temporary Lakewood Branch. A crew of 25 men finished the construction job for the temporary quarters of Puget Sound National Bank near Lakewood Center in 10 working days. The new branch opened March 24, 1952, just 28 days from the time the foundations were laid. Faced with a rapidly increasing population in the area and a growing need for modern branch banking facilities, bank officials made a quick decision to build a new bank and build it now. (TNT, 3/9/1952, p.C-12)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood; Building construction--Lakewood--1950-1960;

Progress photographs on construction of Puget Sound National Bank's temporary Lakewood Branch. Workmen are seen putting the finishing touches on the exterior of the building constructed in a record 10 working days. Architect Lea, Pearson and Richards turned to what was virtually an all-plywood construction for a one-story building in keeping with the colonial design of Lakewood Center. (TNT, 3/9/1952, p.C-12)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood; Building construction--Lakewood--1950-1960;

Exerior view of Puget Sound National Bank in Lakewood. The temporary Lakewood branch of the Puget Sound National Bank was completed and ready for occupancy in March, 1952. The branch was located at 6207 Mount Tacoma Drive S.W. , an addition of the Lakewood Center. View of bank shows it to be a one-story building, colonial in architecture, with porch and shutters. There is also a weathervane on the roof. Construction of the new branch was completed in less than one month. According to the 1953 City Directory, Charles McClallum was listed as Assistant Cashier and Branch Manager and F.A. White, Assistant Manager. Photograph ordered by Condon Co. (TNT 3-21-52, p. 9)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood;

Progress photographs on construction of Puget Sound National Bank's temporary Lakewood Branch. The Lakewood Branch opened in temporary headquarters - a 35 x 75 foot plywood building - 10 working days after obtaining the Comptroller's approval. Plans for a permanent building to be located adjacent to the temporary building and on Gravelly Lake Drive were to begin immediately. The permanent branch opened on October 5, 1953. (TNT, 3/8/1952, p.A-3)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood;

Progress photographs on construction of Puget Sound National Bank's temporary Lakewood Branch. The temporary branch opened March 24, 1952, in an addition to Lakewood Center, directly south of the main shopping center, across the parking lot. Charles McCallum was to be the Lakewood Branch Manager. (TNT, 3/8/1952, p.A-3)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood;

Exterior view of Puget Sound National Bank's temporary Lakewood branch. As the 1950's began, so did urban flight. Population in the suburbs was booming and the bank followed its customers. In 1952, Puget Sound opened its Lakewood branch adjacent to the Lakewood Center and took in nearly $2 million in deposits by the end of its first year. Lakewood opened in temporary headquarters- a 35 x 75 foot plywood building- 10 working days after obtaining the Comptroller's approval. The permanent branch opened on 10-5-1953. ("Banking on Independence" by Barry L. Provorse)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood;

In May of 1952, two news hungry Tacomans, Mrs. Lindquist & Mr. McIntyre, picked up news bulletins, provided by the news room of KTNT, in the lobby of the National Bank of Washington at 1123 Pacific Avenue. On the morning of April 12, 1952, the pressmen employees of the News Tribune struck Tacoma's only daily newspaper and posted pickets around the plant. The strike shut down the paper from mid-April until August 12, 1952. This was Tacoma's first major newspaper strike in more than 30 years. The KTNT news bulletins, published by the news division the Tribune's radio station, and the Tacoma Reporter, which was published from June-August of 1952, helped provide news to the community during the strike.

Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; National Bank of Washington (Tacoma); Lobbies--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Overall exposure of the rhododendron show at the lobby of the Bank of California. A bit of the outdoors has been brought inside the bank with this display of the lush flower of the state of Washington set off by pines, a flagstone patio and bench, backed by wooden fencing. Sponsored by the Tacoma Rhododendron Society.

Bank of California National Association (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Rhododendrons; American Rhododendron Society, Tacoma Chapter (Tacoma);

Exposure of 50,000 parking tickets being given away at Puget Sound National Bank's new downtown parking lot. As more people moved to the suburbs and relied more on their automobiles, the downtown branch of Puget Sound added an "auto teller" for drive through banking and a new customer parking lot to entice customers to come downtown.

Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Parking lots--Tacoma--1950-1960; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Reno Odlin (fourth from the left) sits with a group of employees from Puget Sound National Bank.

Bankers--Tacoma; Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma)--People; Odlin, Reno, 1897-1979;

Man at desk in wood paneled office of the National Bank of Washington, surrounded by numerous floral arrangements. This is possibly C.T. Chandler, vice-president, in a photograph taken on August 2, 1952. In 1955 Mr. Chandler would be elected vice-president of Transamerica with an office in San Francisco.

National Bank of Washington (Tacoma)--People; Flower arrangements;

Tabulating equipment at Pacific First Federal. Punch card technology was developed in the mid-1880's by Herman Hollerith to help handle tabulation of data for the 1890 census. James Powers, working for the Bureau of Census developed a different type of card punch for the 1910 census. Powers left the Bureau to start his own business which merged with Remington Typewriter Company and Rand Cardex to form Remington Rand in 1927. Ordered by Remington Rand, Inc.

Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan Association (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Remington Rand Co. (Rowayton, Ct.);

The Tacoma Savings and Loan Association held their annual Christmas party at the Fircrest Golf Club in 1952. Dorothy Hopping Roberts (third from left), Hazel Schaeffer Hopping and William D. Hopping, Jr. (second from right and extreme right) posed for a casual portrait behind a decorated tree branch. The couple at the extreme left were not identified. Dorothy Hopping Roberts was the daughter of William Hopping, Sr., president of Tacoma Savings & Loan. William D. Hopping, Jr., here with his wife Hazel, was the son of the savings & loan president. (Additional identification provided by a reader)

Tacoma Savings & Loan Association (Tacoma); Roberts, Dorothy Louise Hopping; Hopping, William D.; Hopping, Hazel Schaeffer; Hopping, William D.--Family;

Workers examine the excavation site and footings of the permanent home of the Lakewood Puget Sound National Bank in April, 1953. Unlike its predecessor, a 35 X 75 foot plywood structure which took only 10 working days to complete, the new brick colonial would take a more leisurely six months to construct. It would open on October 5, 1953, on Mt. Tacoma Dr. S.W. in the Lakewood Center. By the end of 1953, its deposits would have increased more than one million dollars from the previous year. (Provorse: Banking on Independence, p. 107)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Excavation--Lakewood; Building construction--Lakewood--1950-1960;

Exteriors of United Mutual Savings Bank, 125 So. 11th, and Household Finance Corp., 117 So. 11th. United Mutual Savings advertised itself as Tacoma's only insured savings bank and HFC, as the name indicates, made loans. The building is classical in design, with its symmetrical facade and carved columns.

United Mutual Savings Bank (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Household Finance Corp. (Tacoma);

Interiors of the United Mutual Savings Bank in the Washington Building at 11th and Pacific. Tellers counter in the foreground, desks at the rear and at the loft area. United Mutual advertised itself as Tacoma's only Savings Bank, with the stipulation that only a savings bank could offer deposit insurance. United Mutual was a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Franklin F. Summers was president, with Harold W. Gloyde, William P. Matthaei and Charles A. Robbins as vice-presidents.

United Mutual Savings Bank (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma;

National Bank of Washington lobby decorated for the Northwest Territory Centennial Days. Carl L. Phillips, bank president, holds one of the pictures to be displayed. The pictures document Tacoma around 1853. The festivities designed to celebrate the 100 year anniversary included an outdoor drama, a beard growing contest, district street dances & celebrations and a parade. TPL-9204

Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; National Bank of Washington (Tacoma); Lobbies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Celebrations--Tacoma--1950-1960; Centennial celebrations--Tacoma; Phillips, Carl L.;

Carl L. Phillips, Bank President, and Mayor Harold Tollefson, left, pose with a mannequin depicting banking one hundred years ago in the lobby of the National Bank of Washington. As the city of Tacoma prepared for the week long celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the Northwest Territory, centennial displays went up all over town. Tacoma's main connection with the centennial was that in 1853 Tacoma's DeLin mill shipped the first lumber from Commencement Bay.

Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; National Bank of Washington (Tacoma); Lobbies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tollefson, Harold M., 1908-1985; Centennial celebrations--Tacoma;

Bank of California- customer parking and drive up banking window. The Bank of California heavily advertised its convenience features- a free parking lot, drive up teller windows and a rear bank entrance just steps from the parking lot. The drive up windows now had two tellers, making banking quicker and easier. The banking institutions tried to make banking in the downtown area more attractive, as business deserted the downtown area for the suburbs. The fifties saw the beginning of the desertion of downtown Tacoma as a retail area. (TNT 10/11/1953, pg. A-4)

Bank of California National Association (Tacoma); Banks--Tacoma; Banking--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parking lots--Tacoma;

New Puget Sound Bank at Lakewood, ordered by the Condon Co. The handsome permanent building was located in the Lakewood Center, facing Mt. Tacoma Dr. S.W. The elegant building had walnut panelling the the lobby, a customer's lounge with a fireplace off the main lobby, an employee's lounge that also had a fireplace and piped-in music. Lakewood's deposits by the end of 1953 were in excess of $3.1 million. (TNT 9/6/1953, pg A-10, "Banking on Independence," by Barry Provorse.)

Puget Sound National Bank (Lakewood); Banks--Lakewood; Banking--Lakewood;