I was going through one of my bulging files labeled “Blog Ideas” to get an idea for this reflection. In it, I found an old bank book of mine, the one I used from first to fifth grade at James A. Garfield School. That school, which included grades 1 through 6, was a fun place to learn. We did some nifty things there. For example, we banked our real money regularly at school. We all got bank books with our names typed on the front. On banking day, we brought our books and dimes and quarters, filled out our deposit slips, went down to the cafeteria, and stood in line waiting for the next teller–just like a real bank. In fact, it was a real bank: The Cleveland Trust Company with a branch in Willoughby, Ohio–only it was in our school. The older students were the tellers. They sat at the cafeteria tables looking very official. They recorded our deposit and took our money. The teachers were walking around in case there was any problem.
My bank book was labeled “School Savings Passbook.” Certain regulations were listed on the back: “When making deposits or withdrawals always present this book… If this book is lost, notify your teacher at once… Accounts may be opened with twenty-five cents or more.” I opened my account Feb. 2, 1951. I was in first grade and I deposited a quarter. Now as I studied the little gray book further, I noticed some curious things:
I usually deposited a quarter. I received my first interest in January 1952. I got $.01! This raised my total to $3.31. I checked: a penny in 1952 is worth 12 cents today! I made a $1 deposit in third grade. That was big money back then. In fifth grade I made other “big” deposits of $2, $3, and even $5. That was probably babysitting money. At 50 cents an hour, I was making big bucks. Throughout those five years at Garfield, I never withdrew any money. Said the bank book: “Withdrawals are made at the bank–never in school.” But on June 29, 1956, I withdrew all my money: $55.20. Today that would be worth $659.15! I closed my account because I was leaving dear old Garfield. Our parish, St. Felicitas, opened their school that year, and my parents made me go to that Catholic School–a difficult move for me because I was leaving all my friends. In my fifth grade, only 2 boys (Frank and Buddy) were Catholic and they switched to St. Felicitas too. But none of my girlfriends were Catholic. In time, however, I made new friends at St. Felicitas, and I even kept in touch with one of my girlfriends from Garfield until she passed away a few years ago.
Further thoughts:
By banking at school, we were being taught some important lessons in life. One main lesson was “delayed gratification.” Why do we put money aside? Because we are saving up to get something we need or want. Most children, psychologists say, learn this lesson by the time they are six: “Eat your peas and you can have a piece of apple pie.” Make the sacrifice now, and you’ll be rewarded in the future.” I wonder, how do parents and teachers teach this important lesson to their children today?
Secondly, we were learning responsibility in a host of different ways: Remember, tomorrow is banking day… don’t lose your bank book… making even a small deposit is good (my smallest was $.15)… fill out your deposit slip properly….wait your turn in line.
Third, we were learning about time. It takes time to earn money and to save it… it takes time to plan for the future… it takes time to put money in the bank… over time the value of money changes.
For reflection:
Did anything stand out for you in this reflection?
Did you have banking at school? Or, how did you learn to save money as a child?
How did you learn the lesson of delayed gratification? How have you taught that lesson to your children or grandchildren?
What “nifty” things do you remember from your early years in school?
PS: Thanks again for your prayers during my retreat. I’ll share more about my retreat in a future post!
Several weeks ago, our U. S. Mint produced the last penny. Yes, starting now, we in the U.S. won’t have any new pennies although the billions in circulation will still be around for a while. (I personally will miss seeing Abe Lincoln on the penny. We need his image more than ever these days. I’m grateul he’s still on our $5 bills!) In honor of the “noble penny,” I chose for our song today, “Pennies from Heaven.” Released in 1936, this song was written by Arthur Johnson and Johnny Burke. It was a cheerful little song for people struggling through the Great Depression. In essence it was saying, “There is goodness even in the darkness and storms we’re going through.” I hope you enjoy this song and even sing along with this easy jazzy version by Paul Anka and Michael Buble.
I welcome your comments below. I always enjoy your insights!
22 Responses
Thank you…i figure we both had our first appearance in 1945…i did indeed have the ” bankbook”…a very special responsibility…another special time in school was going around the maypole..tetherball..kickball and terrified of all teachers..those days the ruler came out and the terrifying prospect of the principles office and paddled for misbehavior…hot lunches 25 cents…milk 5 cents..good times!!!
Good morning, thank you for your reflection. We didnt have a school program to save money, but it would be a great idea to bring it back. My children were in a kids saving program at a bank that every time their savings hit another 10 dollar mark they got a free toy dinosaur. My son loved this, and now that he is 40 he recently gave these dinosaurs to his nephew. My mom used to tell our neighbor, ” well Jennie doing that good deed just earned you another precious gem on your crown in heaven”. Jennie would laugh and say” Mary, that crown is already too heavy!”. It was their little way of encouraging each other to do the good deeds now even they are an inconvenience. Thank you for the memories, and you have encouraged me to ask if my grandsons have savings accounts. Enjoy your day.
I have great memories of my elementary school, which was just two houses away from where I lived in our small town. It was the gathering place for afterschool and weekend activities for the children who lived in the town. Inside, we formed lifelong friendships. My mom was the “milk lady” my first couple of years and then cook and finally cafeteria manager. I still have pole who come up and tell me my mom was such a good cook (she was!). And now, my former elementary school has been turned into the Wilder Museum, as part of the Warren County Historical Society. I’m that old!!! 🤣
Good Morning Sister Melannie,
Our Grandpa Albert gave his grandkids a glass piggy bank in the early 50s and I still have mine. That is where I am saving those precious pennies. I don’t know why this treasure lasted all these years but I now look at it and think of my dear Grampa who died just before my 3rd birthday.
Thank you for sharing this teaching on finances from your elementary school. There are so many lessons here that could be applied to Advent: investing, waiting, Hope etc.
Giddy up & God Bless!
I went to Kindergarten from December-June as we had just moved. We had banking and I remember getting a dollar bill every Monday and climbing the stairs to an upper floor to make my deposit. I felt so grown up especially when I closed the account before summer as I would be transferring to a Catholic school. I had $17 and thought I was rich and held onto that money for years. A good memory and several great values learned.
When listening to this song I inserted “graces” for the pennies as it seemed fitting for Advent season.
I remember my best friend and I being punished for fighting during recess – by the time we got to our places at the fence and the school wall, respectively, we were united against Sister and best friends forever. I was new to 2nd grade there at St Mary’s in Bedford, having moved from Cleveland Hts that July.
Being one of 7, we had many lessons on all the virtues you mentioned. My friend Pat was eldest of 5, so she taught me something too about responsibility.
Lovely memories, thank you!
What a wonderful reflection on delayed gratification! Thanks Sister Melannie. I remember walking to school on cold, cold mornings like today. We even went home for lunch. Talk about delayed gratification.
Happy Advent!!
Traditionally, back home we receive our first piggy bank from the actual local bank when we open our first savings account; Teutopolis State Bank and it is still the same bank today. For me, that was on my First Communion because that is the first time people gave me money other than my parents. I opened my first account with $250 that I made from all my relatives and parents that day. I never touched that money until I bought my first car at age 16. Money in the bank was sacred to never be touched. I was always hesitant to put money in the bank, too, because I knew I wouldn’t touch it. Oh how things have changed with the rise of debit cards and touchless pay! There is no longer that gratifying wait to save up; now we buy on credit and pay over time. The instant gratification has taken over the patient waiting. Cash was much more sacred to me. What will we do without the good luck of finding a penny heads up?! Great article that brought back genuine memories and a virtue in money that is more often associated with greed and avarice. God bless!
The planning, preparing and waiting during Advent are similar to the lessons you learned by putting money aside in your school bank account.
The “delayed” gratification that you learned seems to be in stark contrast to the “instant” gratification that seems to prevail in today’s world. Many thoughts to ponder here.
Thank you, Sr. Melannie.
I love the reflections from Barry, Kathleen and Beverly associating saving money to saving up anticipation of joy through Advent.
I will forever remember the first year I had saved enough money from babysitting to buy a Christmas present for my parents and 6 of my 8 siblings. Picking out the perfect gift and using my own money was such a joy. I also vividly remember opening my first bank account the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I had a job at Marshall Drugs at the soda fountain making $1.50 an hour! Big money in the early 60’s. My Dad taught me a lot about depositing money as soon as I received the pay check and saving for the future, keeping only a few dollars for daily expenses. Makes me think of praying for specific requests, saving our petitions for immediate and future “payments” from God.
So many good thoughts and memories generated from this post, thank you Melannie.
My father always taught me about delayed gratification. His words offered advice were “Walk around the block first before buying something that was not needed”.
And he always sang the Bing Crosby song Pennies from Heaven”. Whenever I hear this song, I smile and the lyrics always cheer me up.
Thank you for this sharing your story!
Good afternoon Sr. Melannie. Like Brandon my first savings account was with the money I had received for my first communion. I was careful not to put much money into it because you could only get any money out on Sundays. We went to St Stephen’s school and church and the credit union was only open after the masses. I worked at the rectory from eighth grade until I graduated high school in 1974. My pay was $5 from after the noon mass until 9:00pm. Father kept my money and paid my tuition at St Stephen’s high school when I was in ninth grade. I don’t know what happened when I went to West Tech in tenth through twelve grades but I never remember any pay from the church for those years. Maybe I was building up treasures in heaven as my mom was would say when I asked about it.
When I was raising my grandniece and grandnephew they had two envelopes for any money they earned or received. One was for spending and the other was for saving. They put 10% in savings automatically and the rest they could spend. Tyler was the saver he would ask every day how much he had so we finally set up a ledger so he could watch his money grow. He wanted a set of drums that cost $500. It took him over a year working with the man next door doing landscaping before he finally had enough. Then It took him a couple of weeks to decide to spend his money on that drumset, but that was a very proud fifth grader that went into the shop and questioned and discussed what he really wanted with the salesman. Proud moment for me too when we walked out with his drums.
OK, that adult piggy bank “Beer Bank” makes me chuckle: so Wisconsin! What wonderful lessons you learned in your school.
This brings back memories of not being on the student end of things but being on the teacher end of things: this was high school. I came in one morning and the principal stopped me to congratulate me for a job well done. So when I asked him what this was all about, he explained to me that I had done such an excellent job of teaching the students (basic math in high school) that one of my students got arrested and is now in juvi. She and a few of her friends knocked off an elderly woman and stole her purse. They proceeded to steal her checkbook and write some checks. The checks were written so well that at first the girls weren’t suspects. But….. they eventually got caught. But the principal told me I did a fine job of teaching them how to write a check: perfect in every detail because I had provided each of my students with a practice checkbook and reconciliation statement to practice with. We both laughed (at least I think I remember laughing). This was only a couple of years after I left the convent. Culture shock I guess. So I don’t think this goes along with teaching students how to save money!!!!!
Thank you for all of your reflections. I just turned 84 recently, and this reflection brought special memories for me.
At around 12 years old I opened my first banking account with a jar of 100 silver dollars I had been saving. Would not mind having even one of those silver dollars in tths days.
I was oh so familiar with the tune. My parents were gifted with beautiful voices and we sang it around our home. Thanks for the memories.
I really don’t remember banking in elementary school, but I do remember these nifty little folders we would get for Lent. There were slots for each day of Lent where we would insert our nickels—and later, quarters—and then at the end of Lent, we were told that we were saving/buying “pagan babies ” in Africa with that money. I know the sisters had good intentions and that the money would go to the missions, but that phrase today makes me cringe. How different our understanding and world-view is!
My first banking experience was opening “a Christmas Club” account. Our banks offered those and for a child it was perfect. I would put babysitting money or birthday money in there and the first of December we’d traipse to the bank and withdraw all $20 (worth about $250 now) and then decide how to spend it to get gifts for my brother, parents and best friend. Even in our early marriage years (1967) we set up Christmas Club accounts to make sure there was something there for the season (the budget was pretty tight those first years of marriage and children. It was a great way to watch money “grow” and reap the benefits of being frugal. Thanks for the memories, Sister.
We also collected money to save the “pagan” babies. The one who collected the most money got the honor of naming the baby. Once one of my brothers achieved this and picked the name, Fabian. Not sure what the nuns thought of his selection. Classrooms also competed in collecting sales tax stamps. The class that had the highest total for the month was rewarded with ice cream. During lent and advent there were jars to pick out a penance to do that day.
Seems like life was simpler back then. Great time to grow up in.
Your blog this week brought back so many good memories of my elementary school years. Like others, my first real banking experience was opening a Christmas Club at our only bank in town. I can remember looking forward to getting my check of $25 after Thanksgiving. I treasure tge memories of being able to pick out gifts for my family and being able to pay for it. I do feel badly for the children of today, that seldom have to wait until a birthday or Christmas to get that special thing you want so much. It certainly instilled in so many of us, that we must wait for those things we want. Hope you all have a Blessed Advent.
Dear Sr. Melannie,
Your remarks and music always seem to put a smile on my face. Reflections on our past somehow seem so refined and respectful to the fast pace of instant gratification of today. I went to St. Clare School in Lyndhurst and I remember that when our Pastor Fr. Fitzgerald was having a larger Church built, the students were all given a world globe metal bank. The bank was the size of a softball and us students were to save $10. in the bank during the year in order to pay for the marble Communion rail for our new Church. After the money was collected we received the bank back as a memory of our contribution. A great lesson.