Generally when I think of mascots, I think of sports teams, such as Phillie Phanatic 
of the Philadelphia Phillies. Rarely would I think of a bank having a mascot. Yet by working in the Wells Fargo Corporate Archives, I can tell you that many banks have had mascots over the years.
Mascots , by definition, are animals, people or objects that are "charms" thought to bring good luck. The mascot then becomes a symbol of the group that has adopted it. Wells Fargo's early days saw the use of dogs for protection and companionship, which led to Jack the Dog as the Wells Fargo mascot.
Recently I received an email letting me know that we will be acquiring a full-size costume of "Lucky." Lucky is coming to us from our friends in Texarkana , thanks to the recent merger of Century Bank with Wells Fargo.
And what exactly is Lucky? Well, a giant number seven , of course! Lucky was made to represent the seven-day banking service that Century provided. And with a name like that, how could he not provide good fortune?!
Wells Fargo's Corporate Archives has two other full-size costumes and various other products of other mascots within its collections. Both of these costumes come from the Norwest Corporation collection. One is Buddy Bear and the other is Barney the Snowman. As we needed some visuals to go with this post, Barney magically came to life in our offices...
Do you have a favorite mascot? Send me a comment of your tale!
mah fav mascot is luky da leprocan
Of course the most famous bank mascot must be Harris Bank's Hubert the Lion (Chicago). Hubert dates from the late 1950s. I was in retail marketing at Continental Bank, Chicago, during the 1970s and early 1980s. Our mascot was "Connie the Kangaroo." She had a baby "roo" in her pouch to symbolize Continental Bank as "The big bank, with the little bank inside." California's Crocker Bank (which was acquired by Wells Fargo) had the Crocker Spaniel. Bank of the West (BOW) uses a bear as a mascot. I have a large collection of bank mascots that I've collected over the years. I spent over 38 years in bank marketing. Unfortunately, too few banks use a mascot to make themselves more likeable.
Thanks Steve for the info. Your collection must be very interesting. We do have several of the Crocker Spaniels in our archive collection, including a giant stuffed animal (but not a costume). I agree that too few banks now use mascots. However we just received another mascot costume from another predecessor bank so get ready for Part 2!
Like Steve, the Crocker Spaniel sticks in my head and someday I'll get one off Ebay.
For a while BankAmerica ran a television ad with a flying eagle that morphed into the curvature of the BA logo that they used at the time time. Even today when I see BA, I think of the eagle.