Money used to feel different. It wasn’t just a digit on a glowing screen or a notification that popped up while you were eating lunch. If you go back far enough—back to the era of banking the old American art—finance was essentially a social contract. It was built on the handshake. It was built on the idea that the person sitting across the mahogany desk actually knew your father, your business partner, and the specific soil quality of your farm.
Now? You’re a credit score. You’re a risk profile calculated by an algorithm in a server farm in Northern Virginia. Honestly, it’s kinda depressing when you think about it. We’ve traded intimacy for efficiency, and while your transfers happen in milliseconds now, we’ve lost the "art" of the whole thing.
Let's talk about what that art actually looked like.
When Character Was Collateral
Back in the day, the local banker was a pillar of the community. Think about the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you walked into a bank in a place like Des Moines or a small town in the Hudson Valley, the loan officer didn't just pull a FICO score. They couldn't. FICO didn't exist until 1956, and it didn't become the industry standard until much later.
Instead, they practiced banking the old American art of character assessment. J.P. Morgan himself famously testified before Congress in 1912, saying that "character is before money or property." He argued that he would give a check to a man he trusted even if that man didn't have a cent in the world.
That sounds insane to a modern ears, right? But it was the reality.
Banking was a localized, tactile profession. The architecture of the buildings reflected this. High ceilings. Marble floors. Heavy brass railings. These weren't just for show; they were designed to project "permanence" in a world where banks could, and often did, fail. You weren't just depositing money; you were entering into a relationship with an institution that promised to be as solid as the stone it was built from.
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The Ledger and the Inkwell
The actual mechanics were a grind. Everything was hand-written in massive ledgers. If you’ve ever seen a banker’s book from the 1880s, the penmanship is hauntingly beautiful. This wasn't just record-keeping; it was craftsmanship. Every entry was a permanent mark of a transaction between two neighbors.
The Shift Toward the Machine
So, what changed? Basically, we got big. Too big for our own good, some might say.
The transition away from banking the old American art started with the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and accelerated wildly in the 1980s and 90s with the repeal of Glass-Steagall. Banks started merging. The "First National Bank of Your Hometown" was swallowed by a regional giant, which was then swallowed by a global behemoth.
Once a bank has 50 million customers, it can’t know your "character." It needs data.
- The introduction of the Credit Score in the late 50s changed the game. Suddenly, a person’s history was reduced to a three-digit number.
- Automated Clearing House (ACH) systems removed the need for physical checks to move between cities.
- ATMs replaced tellers. The first one in the U.S. popped up in 1969 at Chemical Bank in Rockville Centre, New York. It was the beginning of the end for the "social" bank visit.
We traded the art for the spreadsheet. And look, I get it. The old way was exclusionary. If the local banker didn’t like the color of your skin or the way you spoke, you didn't get a loan. That was the dark side of the "handshake" era. The data-driven world we live in now is, in theory, more objective. But it’s also colder.
Why the Old Art Still Matters Today
You might think this is all just nostalgia. It isn't. There’s a reason why community banks and credit unions are seeing a resurgence in interest. People are tired of being "Customer #88291."
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In the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, and again during the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank collapse, we saw the limits of "modern" banking. When things get chaotic, people look for the old art. They look for relationships. They want to know that if they call their bank, a human being who understands their local economy will pick up the phone.
The Personal Touch in a Digital World
Some smaller institutions are trying to bring back banking the old American art by blending high-tech with high-touch. It’s a weird hybrid. They use the apps and the encryption, but they also keep physical branches open. They still sponsor the local Little League team. They still have "loan committees" that look at more than just a computer-generated "Yes/No."
If you’re a small business owner, the old art is actually your best friend. A giant national bank might reject your loan because your industry is "high risk" according to their global model. A local banker knows that your specific street is booming. That’s the nuance we’ve lost.
The Aesthetic of the Golden Age
We can't ignore the visual side of this. Banking the old American art extended to the currency itself.
Have you ever looked at a "Large Size" note from the 1800s? They were called "Blanket Notes" because they were so big. The engraving was incredible. These were literal works of art. The 1896 "Educational Series" of Silver Certificates are widely considered the most beautiful money ever printed by the U.S. government. They featured neoclassical allegorical scenes. They looked like something you’d find in the Louvre, not in a greasy wallet.
Money felt heavy. It felt important. When you handed someone a $5 bill in 1896, you were handing them a masterpiece of security engraving. Today, our money is utilitarian. It’s designed to be scanned, not admired.
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How to Reclaim the "Art" in Your Own Finances
We aren't going back to 1890. I'm not suggesting we start writing our bank statements in calligraphy. But you can shift your financial life to be less of a data point and more of a relationship.
Honestly, the best way to do this is to move your money.
If you're currently at a "Big Four" bank and you feel like a ghost, look into a local credit union. These are member-owned. They operate on a model that is much closer to the old American art than anything you'll find on Wall Street. Their "charter" is literally to serve their specific community.
Practical steps to take right now:
- Audit your "Human" connections. Do you know the name of anyone at your bank? If not, visit a local branch. Introduce yourself to the manager. Tell them about your business or your long-term goals.
- Look at Credit Unions. Research the "Field of Membership" for local credit unions. Many only require that you live in a certain county.
- Read the fine print on "Relationship Banking." Some larger banks have tiers where you get a dedicated representative. It’s not quite the 19th-century handshake, but it’s better than a chatbot.
- Support Local Business. Banking is an ecosystem. When you use a local bank, they lend to the local hardware store. That’s the "art" of circulation that kept American towns thriving for 150 years.
The "art" wasn't just about the fancy buildings or the beautiful ink. It was about the realization that money is a tool used by humans, for humans. In our rush to make everything faster and more digital, we've forgotten that the most valuable asset any bank has isn't its capital—it's the trust of its neighbors.
Stop thinking of your bank as a website. Start thinking of it as a partner. It’s a small shift, but it’s the only way to bring a little bit of that old American art back into the modern world.