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Bradley, H. L.; George E. Lawrence Co.; Hammond Brothers; Rand; Richardson; Sherman, Paul J. Webber; Willoughby Com’l photog., et al.

[Photo album documenting bank buildings and bank interiors throughout the northeast, but mainly in New England.]

Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other Northeastern locales, [1920s.]. Oblong 12mo (7.5” x 9.5”), pebbled black leather. 90 silver prints (most images approx. 7.25” x 9.25”), mounted on linen, including a few smaller photos and a few photos laid-in. 1 laid in leaf of a photograph of a design by noted architect Alfred C. Bossom. Stamps of various photographers on versos, a number of photos stamped “General Bank Equipment Co.”, and a few images bearing dates such as 1925 and 1927. Original architectural sketches on a few versos. Some inscriptions on versos of images. One printed photo description affixed to the verso of an image. CONDITION: Overall very good, a handful of photos loose; a few images with moderate wear.

An unusually rich document of bank architecture and bank interiors in New England and elsewhere, evidently for the use of a firm involved in bank design.

Stamps on the versos of several photos suggest that this album was compiled and owned by the General Bank Equipment Co., which at the time was located at 120 Tremont St. in Boston. Exterior shots of banks whose locations are immediately evident show the National Bank of Newport (CT), Second National Bank (Boston), National Bank of Wrentham (MA), Orleans Trust Co. (MA), First National Bank of Yarmouth (MA), Union Savings Bank (Boston), and Skowhegan Savings Bank (Maine). Banks whose locations are not immediately evident include First National Bank, People’s National Bank, Essex National Bank, Granite Savings Bank & Trust Co., Banking and Trust Co., and Allen National Bank. Also included are a few images of banks outside of New England, such as the Sandy Hill National Bank of Hudson Falls (NY), Franklin National Bank (Long Island, NY), Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank (the oldest savings bank in New York City), and the Mercantile Trust Co. (New York City). Some of these banks are pictured multiple times, and many are shown adjacent to various stores and offices (a grocery, dentist, insurance firm, ice cream parlor, real estate office, optometrist, etc.), which may help to identify the towns in which they are located.

Interior bank scenes show bank safes, counters, lobbies, conference rooms, etc., and a handful of shots show various male and female bank employees at work. Teller windows feature a range of signs reading “Savings Dept.,” “Foreign Dept.,” “Trust Dept.,” “Christmas Club,” “Safety Deposit,” etc. Interiors are variously furnished or decorated with flowers, grandfather clocks, fireplaces, calendars, tables, lamps, hanging chandeliers, tables, chairs, desks, trash cans, images of bank presidents, etc. While it is difficult to identify which banks are depicted in the interior shots, two photos of interiors are of Maine banks, as indicated by the Maine state seal hanging on the wall. Shots from behind the counters in several banks (facing the public) show money-counting machines, adding machines, phones, typewriters, and so on. Also included is an interior view of the C. C. Harvey Co. piano showroom in Boston. 

An unusual and extensive document of bank architecture in the northeast as documented in the roaring twenties.

Item #8049

Price: $950.00