The Commercial Bank Of Australia Nostalgia
- Thread starter crojo
- Start date
Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd.
The 2 takeovers (rapes) established the "4 pillars" of Australian banking.
I was in the Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd/Westpac from 13th Jan 1955 to the 13th Jan 1991.
The 2 takeovers (rapes) established the "4 pillars" of Australian banking.
I was in the Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd/Westpac from 13th Jan 1955 to the 13th Jan 1991.
Interesting coincidence today.
http://www.theage.com.au/business/bankings-bedrock-of-change-20120928-26qvp.html
http://www.theage.com.au/business/bankings-bedrock-of-change-20120928-26qvp.html
This thread has prompted a SHORT trip down memory lane, to the 13th January 1955, when a sweet innocent young lad, all of 15 years and 11 months old, left his beloved boarding school in Albury NSW, and joined "the bank".
Leaving school was the WORST decision I ever made, but I think girls had something to do with it.
The CBA paid me the princely sum of 350 pounds ($700) A YEAR!!!!!, all of $14 a week. That day was a payday and they handed me 16/6 ($1.65) for the days work.
As an example of how far apart we are from that ancient time, in late 1954, a few months before I joined. the Bank sent a Staff Circular to all branches. It advised that it was no longer required that a staff member gain the BANKS PERMISSION to get married. The bank would look at the applicants financial position, his prospects in the bank, and often the brides position also. Permission was granted or refused and I had one older workmate who defied the order and had 2 kids before they found out. The 2 kids welfare saved him from instant dismissal.
The new fangled ball point pen was BANNED, and the only allowed instrument was the classic pen and ink. It was my job to change the blotters and nibs and so on at the public tables every morning.
There were none of the new fangled 'adding machines', mechanical not electronic, they did not come in for a few years after. ALL calculations was done via pen and ink and 'in the head'. I did not see my first mechanical or electronic adding machine for about a year or so. I could add up 3 columns of money figures a foot long AND get the answer correct first time. To "slicker the ledger" first time was a boasting point.
"erasures are not permitted in the bank's books".
Memory lane.
Leaving school was the WORST decision I ever made, but I think girls had something to do with it.
The CBA paid me the princely sum of 350 pounds ($700) A YEAR!!!!!, all of $14 a week. That day was a payday and they handed me 16/6 ($1.65) for the days work.
As an example of how far apart we are from that ancient time, in late 1954, a few months before I joined. the Bank sent a Staff Circular to all branches. It advised that it was no longer required that a staff member gain the BANKS PERMISSION to get married. The bank would look at the applicants financial position, his prospects in the bank, and often the brides position also. Permission was granted or refused and I had one older workmate who defied the order and had 2 kids before they found out. The 2 kids welfare saved him from instant dismissal.
The new fangled ball point pen was BANNED, and the only allowed instrument was the classic pen and ink. It was my job to change the blotters and nibs and so on at the public tables every morning.
There were none of the new fangled 'adding machines', mechanical not electronic, they did not come in for a few years after. ALL calculations was done via pen and ink and 'in the head'. I did not see my first mechanical or electronic adding machine for about a year or so. I could add up 3 columns of money figures a foot long AND get the answer correct first time. To "slicker the ledger" first time was a boasting point.
"erasures are not permitted in the bank's books".
Memory lane.
E
Emanance
Guest
Great post fellas.
Does this mean my boss will eventually stop getting angry with me when I whip out my smart phone to calculate the total for a customers quote :lol:.
Old Codger said:
Does this mean my boss will eventually stop getting angry with me when I whip out my smart phone to calculate the total for a customers quote :lol:.
Emanance,
I guess so, but in Yarrawonga (Vic) in 1955, if you wanted to place a call to Melbourne, you had to dial the Yarrawonga Exchange and book the call. The telephonist would advise of the traffic, and the expected wait time. It was sometimes up to 3 hours I think from memory.
The cost was unbelievable, my father would grizzle about it a lot, and the 3 minute steps were very strict and the telephonist would warn you that you had "30 seconds to go" and you got cut off going 10 seconds over. I told that story at OPTUS when I last bought one of these new fangled SAMSUNGs and I don't think the kid believed me.
The only radio station during the day was 3SR Shepparton, and you had to wait until after the sun set to get a Melbourne station.
It cost about 3 years adult salary to FLY to London (QANTAS Lockheed 'Constellation') in the early 1950s.
I guess so, but in Yarrawonga (Vic) in 1955, if you wanted to place a call to Melbourne, you had to dial the Yarrawonga Exchange and book the call. The telephonist would advise of the traffic, and the expected wait time. It was sometimes up to 3 hours I think from memory.
The cost was unbelievable, my father would grizzle about it a lot, and the 3 minute steps were very strict and the telephonist would warn you that you had "30 seconds to go" and you got cut off going 10 seconds over. I told that story at OPTUS when I last bought one of these new fangled SAMSUNGs and I don't think the kid believed me.
The only radio station during the day was 3SR Shepparton, and you had to wait until after the sun set to get a Melbourne station.
It cost about 3 years adult salary to FLY to London (QANTAS Lockheed 'Constellation') in the early 1950s.
I inherited this from my grandfather. Its a simple black leather wallet/pouch with press-stud flap measuring 161mm x 83mm and embossed (in gold leaf ?) "THE COMMERCIAL BANKING COMPANY OF SYDNEY LIMITED".
I don't know what it was used for. Holding banknotes I guess ? Although it does seem a bit small for that. Love to hear from anyone who could shed some light on its purpose and age.
I don't know what it was used for. Holding banknotes I guess ? Although it does seem a bit small for that. Love to hear from anyone who could shed some light on its purpose and age.
This thread sure brings back memories... I remembered when the CBA valued me as a customer 
Clawhammer said:This thread sure brings back memories... I remembered when the CBA valued me as a customer
And I remember when, as a child, I believed banks were honest, without reproach. We had a Commonwealth Bank rep give a speech at our primary school. Then they started accounts for all the kids, every week the teacher collected our pocket-money to be deposited. Then in year 6 we went on an excursion to the mint in Canberra. I still have the nu-circulated 1980s coin set (1c,2c,5c,10c,20c,50c).
"An Officers signature MUST be legible".
Another of the set in stone 'Regulations' that were adhered to like the bible. So much so that an innocent lad used to get a pad at home and practice his newly composed signature, so that even today I can sign it 20 times, and you can hardly, if at all, tell them apart. Not like the "chicken scratchings" of today's youth.
And with about 450 customers/ account holders in Yarrawonga it was demanded that I know every signature to ensure no possible forgery got through. I never saw one! The legibility of our figures was a constant goal, and an error free ledger page was a guarantee of Branch Manager approval. My beautiful Copperplate ledger headings were famous across the land.
And interestingly, another Regulation was very ominous, and read, "If an Officer knows or suspects another's malfeasance he must report the matter to his Manager IMMEDIATELY". I saw this happen once and BOTH the reporter and the offender were 'dealt with'. The offender to the police, and the reporter to a remote town from which he was never transferred until retirement.
And I saw a young mate of mine who got FAR too drunk at a Bank Staff Christmas party. He was literally carried off the dance floor and this was noted by a senior executive. He spent the rest of his career in a remote Victorian town.
....and for members here, some advice from an old bank manager given to me at the age of 16, "young Codger! ALWAYS remember, the higher the gain, the greater the risk".
Another of the set in stone 'Regulations' that were adhered to like the bible. So much so that an innocent lad used to get a pad at home and practice his newly composed signature, so that even today I can sign it 20 times, and you can hardly, if at all, tell them apart. Not like the "chicken scratchings" of today's youth.
And with about 450 customers/ account holders in Yarrawonga it was demanded that I know every signature to ensure no possible forgery got through. I never saw one! The legibility of our figures was a constant goal, and an error free ledger page was a guarantee of Branch Manager approval. My beautiful Copperplate ledger headings were famous across the land.
And interestingly, another Regulation was very ominous, and read, "If an Officer knows or suspects another's malfeasance he must report the matter to his Manager IMMEDIATELY". I saw this happen once and BOTH the reporter and the offender were 'dealt with'. The offender to the police, and the reporter to a remote town from which he was never transferred until retirement.
And I saw a young mate of mine who got FAR too drunk at a Bank Staff Christmas party. He was literally carried off the dance floor and this was noted by a senior executive. He spent the rest of his career in a remote Victorian town.
....and for members here, some advice from an old bank manager given to me at the age of 16, "young Codger! ALWAYS remember, the higher the gain, the greater the risk".
I know a grandson who passed mid level mathematics at VCE level.
Without a calc, he is LOST!
Without a calc, he is LOST!
PS,
The 'TR' in the 2 items in the OP stand for 'Tellers Requirements' on the stationery order list.
The 'TR' in the 2 items in the OP stand for 'Tellers Requirements' on the stationery order list.
Old Codger said:
For what it's worth mate... I really appreciate looking at the penmanship in old log books letters etc. Really was/is "art".
Clawhammer,
I know of an old ex CBA staff member who found an old ledger that had fallen off the back of a truck. It was from Bendigo, Vic branch in the first few years of the Banks existence in the 1860s.
The headings were magnificent, almost as good as mine, and there was a hard job finding an error of any sort in the pages. It is a book of about 500 heavy pages, about 18" across and 24" deep, in fully bound leather, and in near perfect condition, or so he says! The thing weighs a ton.
Some of the entries are amazing. In another Gold Fields ledger i saw once it had entries such as 'Mah Wong and Company' - Sale of Opium, - 10 Pounds.
I know of an old ex CBA staff member who found an old ledger that had fallen off the back of a truck. It was from Bendigo, Vic branch in the first few years of the Banks existence in the 1860s.
The headings were magnificent, almost as good as mine, and there was a hard job finding an error of any sort in the pages. It is a book of about 500 heavy pages, about 18" across and 24" deep, in fully bound leather, and in near perfect condition, or so he says! The thing weighs a ton.
Some of the entries are amazing. In another Gold Fields ledger i saw once it had entries such as 'Mah Wong and Company' - Sale of Opium, - 10 Pounds.
B
Byron
Guest
Fantastic stories Old Codger!
Hope you share more with us.
From what i've been told and read, 50s- 60s were truly the golden era. Prosperity, safety, sense of community, national pride, a great PM (Menzies) in charge, limited technology, cheaper cost of living (housing in particular), no multiculty or flooding of the country with undesirable burdens with a burning hatred for this country, limited welfare state, no anti white male policies or a draconian over-regulated police state.
Although i'm not that old i too have old passbook accounts from institutions that no longer exist - Hindmarsh Adelaide Building Society, Endeavour Credit Union etc.
Times change but never for the better....
Hope you share more with us.
From what i've been told and read, 50s- 60s were truly the golden era. Prosperity, safety, sense of community, national pride, a great PM (Menzies) in charge, limited technology, cheaper cost of living (housing in particular), no multiculty or flooding of the country with undesirable burdens with a burning hatred for this country, limited welfare state, no anti white male policies or a draconian over-regulated police state.
Although i'm not that old i too have old passbook accounts from institutions that no longer exist - Hindmarsh Adelaide Building Society, Endeavour Credit Union etc.
Times change but never for the better....