One man, one bank, can rebuild a city, one loan at a time.

In 1906 San Francisco was struck by a massive earthquake.  The devastation left by the quake was nothing compared to the fires raged throughout the city after the initial shock waves.  As the fires spread most people fled the city.  In the aftermath of the destruction virtually everyone was left poor and penniless with their homes destroyed.  Many people sought to rebuild immediately, but they ran into an unexpected problem.  Banks were unwilling and even unable to loan money due to the fact that the fires had ripped through their own facilities.  The vaults that protected all of their funds survived, but were so hot they could not be opened for six days for fear the contents would spontaneously combust.  The one exception to this was the Bank of Italy which had the foresight to shuttle its available funds to the countryside protect them.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, Amadeo Giannini founder and owner of the Bank of Italy set up a makeshift desk from a few planks over two barrels and loaned money to anyone who was willing to rebuild.  In fact, the first two ships of lumber that came down from the north to help rebuild the city were financed by the Bank of Italy.  The efforts were not lost on the customers who repaid every single loan handed out.  Today The Bank of Italy is know as The Bank of America, one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

So it is best to remember that one person, and one bank can make a world of difference.  And, make sure you keep liquid cash out of earthquake zones that are prone to fire.

-Professor (Uncle) Walter

Comments

[Olivia]

Great post. I really like stories like this. Did this man receive a reward or something?

[Professor (Uncle) Walter]

No, back then he was just doing his job. He took great risks helping out all those people, and his reward was the success of his business.