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Itsjeff
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Username: Itsjeff

Post Number: 5961
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.242.213.167
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 10:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mikem's great scans of Detroit Bank & Trust reminded me of some of our other late banks: NBD, Manufacturers, Bank of the Commonwealth, Michigan National, Standard Federal.

One thing that Detroit has in abundance: former banks. This afternoon I'm going out to take pictures of the banks/former banks in the villages and post them here. Maybe others can do the same for their neighborhoods.

Does anyone recall old ads? I posted "You outta know, a Detroit banker... better!" in the 211 thread. I remember the jingle, "Manufacturers will help you make it." And their slogan, "Manufacturers: That's my bank!" I don't recall any slogan or jingle for NBD.

Please share your recollections and pictures!
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Viziondetroit
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Username: Viziondetroit

Post Number: 514
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 68.42.176.190
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 10:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

NBD... the right bank can make a difference was the one they used for a while.
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Rustic
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Username: Rustic

Post Number: 2498
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 71.234.183.131
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 11:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Michigan National Bank the Saturday bank!
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 2168
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.3.71
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 1:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Speaking of old banks.... I remember when RenCen first opened up... Manufacturer's Bank had their HQ in Tower 100 (tower closest to CAY Bldg). When you took the Tower 100 elevator up to the 38th floor, you came upon a 2 story lobby (38 & 39) for the Manufacturer's executive offices & board room.

I believe later Comerica (when they merged with Manufacturer's) used these floors for their exec's for a while as well. Does GM now use these same 2 floors in Tower 100 for their exec's and board room?

(Message edited by Gistok on May 27, 2006)
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Tarkus
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Username: Tarkus

Post Number: 32
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 69.222.98.86
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 2:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just some trivia, NBD was started by GM during the depression in 1933. Charles "Chick" Fisher (Fisher Body) and his father were both at one time Presidents and Chairmen of the bank

(Message edited by Tarkus on May 27, 2006)
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 2170
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Posted From: 4.229.3.4
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 5:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And that traitorous "uncle Verne" sold it off to First Chicago.
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Tarkus
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Username: Tarkus

Post Number: 33
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 69.222.98.86
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 5:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Amen Gistok, after 1st Chicago Bank One took over and let all of us NBDers go. My Dept. was totally eliminated. Verne sold us down the river.
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 2563
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.43.15.105
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 5:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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Itsjeff
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Username: Itsjeff

Post Number: 5963
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.242.213.167
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 6:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ad from a 1981 Detroit News:

1st
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 597
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 207.200.116.139
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 6:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Going back 55 years or more to my first Detroit banking days (which was, in fact, at The Detroit Bank), I well remember that big grey building on the northeast corner of Grand River and Meyers. The bank opened at 10 a.m. and closed at 3 p.m. No exceptions. Closed Saturday and Sunday and a score of bastard holidays. No ATMs, just your passbook which you better have with you. Tellers with all the warmth of Rasputin (the Russian one, not our colleague here).

It wasn't until around 1960 that I stumbled upon pleasant bank workers at Bank of the Commonwealth and changed all my accounts. And they were open 9 to 5!!!

Banking has come a long way. A helluva long way.
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Jiminnm
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Username: Jiminnm

Post Number: 624
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 68.35.85.184
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 6:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Don't forget the Union Trust, for whom we have to thank for the Guardian Building (although UT went under shortly after the GB construction).

Also, I once had an account with City National (in the Penobscot Bldg?).
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Itsjeff
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Username: Itsjeff

Post Number: 5964
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.242.213.167
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 7:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

City National was in the City National Bank Building : ) (They got to rename the Penobscot. The name reverted when City National went away.)
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 2565
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.43.15.105
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 7:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

With all the mergers and name changes, I need to see a bank family tree. My first account was at the Commonwealth Bank branch, Moross & Harper. What became of Commonwealth?
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Itsjeff
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Username: Itsjeff

Post Number: 5967
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Posted From: 69.242.213.167
Posted on Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 8:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bank of the Commonweatlh was absorbed by the Borg. Er, Comerica.
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Itsjeff
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Username: Itsjeff

Post Number: 5969
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Posted From: 69.242.213.167
Posted on Sunday, May 28, 2006 - 9:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This is the corner of Van Dyke and Kercheval. The sign covers the name of the former bank. At the very top it says, "The Oldest Bank in Michigan." Above the door it says, "Established in 1919."

dominos

Here's a decent re-use of a former Manufacturer's branch on E. Jefferson in Indian Village.

mfg
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Mbr
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Username: Mbr

Post Number: 64
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 68.255.232.140
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 12:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I had a brokerage account with First of Michigan, which became Fahnestock, which is now Oppenheimer I beleive.
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Matt_the_deuce
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Username: Matt_the_deuce

Post Number: 642
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.14.248.252
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 1:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Still waiting for the recipe for an upside down bunt cake.

Oh....... "banking"
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Hardhat
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Username: Hardhat

Post Number: 127
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.221.79.36
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 8:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Talk to the experts at the Big E..."
So went the jingle in the 1970s. The Big E, or Empire of America, had a branch on Vernor near Central. My savings for my first car was with the Big E.
Alas, they went belly-up or got absorbed by another bank during the savings and loan scandal in the 1980s. Fortunately, my money was already spent. Were there other Big E branches, or a regional headquarters, in Detroit?
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The_rock
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Username: The_rock

Post Number: 1264
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 68.42.251.225
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 8:22 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Reporter to Al Capone: Why do you rob banks?
Capone: Because that's where the money is.
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Jams
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Username: Jams

Post Number: 3417
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.79.113.29
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 9:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I thought it was Jesse James who said that.
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Rustic
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Username: Rustic

Post Number: 2502
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 130.132.123.28
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 9:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

dillinger
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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1211
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 63.41.8.193
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 11:49 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)



From a May, 1973 Hamtramack "The Citizen"
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1953
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Username: 1953

Post Number: 842
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 65.54.98.106
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 3:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does anyone have any information about the Detroit Stock Exchange?
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Leoqueen
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Username: Leoqueen

Post Number: 1330
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 6:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

Reporter to Al Capone: Why do you rob banks?
Capone: Because that's where the money is.




I thought Willie Sutton said this....
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Fastcarsfreedom
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Username: Fastcarsfreedom

Post Number: 47
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 70.53.96.51
Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 9:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Didn't realize there were "The Big E" branches in Michigan. Headquarters was at the Empire Tower on Main Street in Buffalo, NY. I remember their last slogan prior to the FSLIC failure--"We're Empire of America--We'll Help You Build Your Dreams"
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The_rock
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Username: The_rock

Post Number: 1272
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Posted From: 68.42.251.225
Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 9:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sutton gets the quote because of his books, but I have "my sources" and I still give Big Al the credit.
And that photo of the bank at Van Dyke and Kercheval, now a Domino's is not a "decent reuse" in my book. It's butt-ugly. Schlock at its worst.
I question if Al, Willie, big John or any of the mob would even venture in there for money much less a pizza.
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Thursdaynext
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Username: Thursdaynext

Post Number: 17
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 69.212.226.188
Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 11:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"And that photo of the bank at Van Dyke and Kercheval, now a Domino's is not a "decent reuse" in my book. It's butt-ugly. Schlock at its worst.
I question if Al, Willie, big John or any of the mob would even venture in there for money much less a pizza."

I think that Itsjeff meant the picture below the caption is the decent reuse; the old Manufacturers bank now housing a dental center, not the Domino's.
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Motorcitymayor2026
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Username: Motorcitymayor2026

Post Number: 850
Registered: 10-2005
Posted From: 24.231.189.137
Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 11:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I actually like how the Dominos looks. Better than knocking that building down and building an ugly Dominos chain building
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Kimmiann
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Username: Kimmiann

Post Number: 35
Registered: 10-2005
Posted From: 155.139.50.15
Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 1:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There's a building on W. Jefferson in Delray with "Penninsular Savings Bank River Street Branch" over the door. I've tried an internet search on it several times with no success, as I've always been curious about it.

Anybody have any clues?
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The_rock
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Username: The_rock

Post Number: 1283
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 68.42.251.225
Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 8:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

...the dental center.....ok, I will buy that. Sure beats an empty lot.
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1345
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.14.122.57
Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 8:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

According to Detroit and Its Banks: The Story of Detroit Bank and Trust by Arthur M. Woodford (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1974), the Peninsular Savings Bank was one of 13 state bank and trust companies around in 1914 (p153); in February 1928, was the 3rd largest bank state bank with 30 branches and resources of $55,096,682 (p158); and in early 1930, was one of 5 banks that were targeted for control by the newly formed Detroit Bankers Company (p161).
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1346
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.14.122.57
Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 9:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Domino's Pizza store at Kercheval and Van Dyke is housed in one of the Detroit Savings Bank branches. In 1924, celebrating 75 years, Detroit Savings Bank issued a booklet outlining their history and including a 2-page pictorial of their branch locations at the time. Of the 17 locations pictured, only 7 remain today, including:

Woodward at Milwaukee - empty building
woodward

Hamilton at Collingwood - now a party store
hamilton

Fort at Campbell - home of George H. International Corporation
fort

Vernor at Junction - still in use as a bank? (Seems recently saw a closed sign on the building?)
vernor

Warren at Junction - in use as the home of the West Warren Avenue Merchants Association
Warren

Another verified location is West Warren at Grand River, and we've seen other bank buildings that appear to be the same architecture and details but haven't yet verified them as People's Savings Bank branches.
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Hardhat
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Username: Hardhat

Post Number: 129
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.221.79.36
Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 10:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Kathleen,
The building at Vernor and Junction was a Detroit Bank and Trust branch bank through the 70s and 80s and then became a Comerica branch. I believe it has been empty for several years, with Comerica as the most recent tenant.

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