ALBION STATE BANK SCHOOL SAVINGS PROGRAM

One of Albion's prominent banks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the Albion State Bank. It was organized in 1895 following the death of private banker James W. Sheldon at the same location. The bank was located at 304 S. Superior St. It was known as the "Bank With the Chimes,"because it had a clock mounted on the outside of the building, that chimed. The logo of the clock/chime was used on some of the bank checks.

This bank strongly and aggressively encouraged savings accounts. It had an arrangement with the Albion Public Schools whereby schoolchildren would save money by purchasing 1¢ stamps and affixing 50 of them to a folder. When the folder was filled, they would take it to the bank, and 50¢ would be deposited into a savings account for them.

The bank came out with other incentives, such as savings programs for workers at the Albion Malleable Iron Company similar to that which was being used for the public schools, small tin "savings banks,"and a brass token encouraging a deposit of $5.00 in the bank.

Ironically, the bank was closed on December 22, 1930, three days before Christmas, due to dwindling deposits. People's savings accounts were frozen, including those school children enrolled in the school savings program. It took twelve years of receivership for depositors to get their funds back in increments; the final payout occurred in December, 1942. Depositors received about 80% of their money back.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present part of a "Penny Savings Folder" of the Albion State Bank containing fifty red-colored stamps affixed to it. The stamps state, "Albion State Bank, Albion, Michigan School one cent Savings Stamp. Good only when Affixed to Savings Card."On the right we see the back side of the card listing bank capital and the services it provided.

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