We promised to reduce Loss and Damage. Therefore, we must handle shipments "The Fargo Way."

Issues of the Wells Fargo Messenger in 1913 and 1916 focused on the matter of "Loss and Damage."  And the little things meant a lot — attention to details was the answer.

On March 25, 1915, a traveling inspector in Albuquerque, New Mexico wrote to Elmer R. Jones, General Superintendent of Wells Fargo & Co.'s Express. "Looking over overland waybills carried by messenger D.A. Wetherbee for shipments of perishables," the inspector wrote, "I notice that he writes on the face of the waybill, 'ICED' with date and name."

Rushing refrigerated carloads of fresh produce was a huge Wells Fargo business, and the inspector saw how precious time could be saved during stops. Wells Fargo messengers along the route, he recommended to Jones, "should be furnished with a regulation re-ice stamp." This would save them the time of writing the icing schedule on waybills, or having to decide whether a shipment needed ice when the train stopped.

Jones got the letter in two days (by Wells Fargo Express, of course), and very quickly the re-ice stamps were disbursed!

Posted by Bob at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Agriculture, At Work, First-hand Accounts, Misc, Perspective, Prepare, Railroads, Remember, Transportation, Wells Fargo Bank

This is Asian Pacific Heritage Month , and the idea is to celebrate the many contributions of Asians and Asian-Americans to life here in the US.

That is the easy part — just one meal of any Asian cuisine reminds us that, without it, North American culture as we know it today simply wouldn't be the same. And if something so fundamental like food has changed our way of life, imagine the impact of scientists, business people, languages, fashion...

Heritage Months are very important for considering who we all are.

Chinese people in North America suffered a profound discrimination that should be remembered. By 1850, California imposed a Foreign Miners Tax  to pressure non-White miners away from the gold fields, aimed especially at Hispanics and Asians.

The US economy depressed in the 1870s  and the strains brought prejudices to the surface. There was a movement to blame the Chinese for the problem. In 1882, the Burlingame Treaty, as the Chinese Exclusion Act  was formally known, suspended immigration and denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants. For those stuck here due to economic hardship, or for those who chose to stay here because it was their home, the Exclusion Act kept them in a limbo of nebulous civil rights — legalized discrimination, that is.

If Chinese people left the country, they needed certification for reentry. This basically meant sponsorship by white men. Charles Crocker , a historical giant and one of the builders of the transcontinental railroad, vouched for Chinese workers because their labor was instrumental in his personal fortune. Local merchants, business people and officials also vouched for Chinese Californians with whom they had relationships. But the burden of the process — and of individual identity itself — lay with the Chinese people who were trying to make their way trough the harsh realities of China, America, the sea, and the toil of everyday life.

In 1893, Wells Fargo's Agent in Los Angeles, William Pridham, certfied his working relationship with Wong Yuen Ark, who sought to return to Los Angeles to resume his business.

We like to assume that the two men were on good terms, but a situation where one could not act without the consent of the other reduces the respectability of both. Whatever the circumstances behind Wong Yuen Ark's and William Pridham's dealings, and however they felt about the right or wrong of the procedure, the document is a stark reminder that one of them was lesser in the eyes of the law at that time.

If you celebrate only one thing during Heritage Months, let it be that so many people had to migrate across intolerance as much as across geography. The journey from past to present is mucky and smelly, and those who made the passage deserve the moment.

Posted by Charles at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Found in Artifacts, Misc, Perspective, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank

Our team of dedicated Archivists handed me a clipping a while ago. It's one of those things you find as you do Archival work. They thought, and I agree, that it belongs on Guided By History.

All of us have minor phobias that we don't necessarily share with everyone. Some avoid under-cooked food , some people are bowled over by odors  that no one else is even aware of. Some are acutely aware of germs  and general uncleanliness.

Well, this AP  image proves that where there's a clientele, there's a way. An ATM manufacturer found a way to sanitize Japanese bills as the machine dispensed them. It's from a 1996 item in the San Francisco Chronicle , whose caption read, "the money-laundering device will ensure nothing more than clean cash gets transferred to supersensitive bank customers."

I haven't found if the machines are in operation.

Anybody know if these are out there anywhere?

Posted by Charles at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Artifacts, Environment, Misc, Prepare, Psychology, Wells Fargo Bank