As I wrote last week, and as you see here, I got a new banker's uniform. Here at the Wells Fargo Museum in Old Sacramento, we give tours and dress in the style of the era. My pocket watch gave my get-up a classic finish. It also got me thinking about watches Wells Fargo presented in recognition of heroic work. I told the story of Aaron Y. Ross, but another man comes to mind.

James Wales Miller was a stagecoach driver. While on his route one day he outran would-be stagecoach robbers and saved the Wells Fargo treasure box. Miller was asked what he wanted for his valor and he responded;

"A dame big bullion watch."

And that’s what Miller got. Wells Fargo presented Miller a silver watch and chain that together weighed approximately two and one-half pounds. The watch alone was approximately three inches in circumference, and one inch wide.

Although such watches as Ross's and Miller's were presented for valor, heroism was not the only reason to Wells Fargo bestowed watches. Non-employees who helped the company were presented with these exclusive watches on occasion. Thomas W. Davies was one such man. A treasure box was dropped from a stagecoach near San Diego, "carrying 10,000 worth in gold from the Golden Chariot Mine ." Davies found and returned the treasure box to Wells Fargo—intact. Superintendent John J. Valentine sent Davies a presentation watch with an inscription that read:

"As recognition of his integrity in protecting and restoring the Treasure Box, with valuable contents, lost from the Julian City Stage , near San Diego, October 1, 1873."

The loyalty, courage and honesty these men showed paid off for them in the end. Wells Fargo appreciated their integrity, and presented them with some of the finest watches of the time.

Posted by Greg at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Found in Artifacts, At Work, Crime, Gold, Misc, Museums, Perspective, Photographs, Remember, Sacramento, Stagecoach, Wells Fargo Bank

Through December 22, Wells Fargo is running a contest  where you can submit your own music video of the song, "The Wells Fargo Wagon" from The Music Man  and you can win excellent prizes. In support of this contest — and in support of our Guided By History community — we got Steve Greenwood, curator of the Wells Fargo Museum in Portland, to write the definitive history of the Wells Fargo Wagon. OK, maybe not definitive. But a darn good one, anyway! (CR)

100 years ago, Americans depended on horse-drawn vehicles  to move a variety of goods around town, including ice  and ice cream , beer  and of course, Express packages.

With Wells Fargo & Co.'s Express, shipments arrived in communities by stagecoach, steamship, or railroad. Express messengers delivered items to their final destination aboard wagons pulled by one or two horses. The famed Wells Fargo Wagon delivered goods of all sorts, from a grey mackinaw to some grapefruit from Tampa, as the song goes . The Wells Fargo wagon even delivered when a snow storm blanketed Salem, Oregon — the crew simply replaced the wagon wheels with sled runners.

Drivers were also alert for outgoing express. Instructions to drivers stated, "Wagonmen should never drive by call cards, but should stop and secure the shipment." The red and blue diamond-shaped signs were familiar across the U.S. and became a Wells Fargo logo.

Wells Fargo has been a financial services company from the very beginning. But the lore of the Company and its central role in the growth of the nation is tied to transportation—stagecoach, railroad, Pony Express. The Wells Fargo wagon was a common sight on American streets as communities grew. It meant excitement, as the song demonstrates, because it brought goods from faraway places, helped businesses get the tools and money they needed, and tied local neighborhoods to world markets.

Posted by Steve at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Artifacts, Branding, Misc, Music, Photographs, Remember, Stagecoach, The Music Man, Transportation, Wells Fargo Bank

In Wells Fargo's Archives, not every document is "Minutes of the Board of Directors" meeting from 1904. Exciting as that always is, there are many other documents—Gold Rush-era transactions, letters between local agents and the Head Office ... Many documents tell everyday stories of people working for the company.

William Muir in Chicago in the early 1890s gives a story of working for Wells Fargo. He told his family on Sept. 16, 1890:

"I am now with Wells, Fargo & Co. Express. It is a much better job than the last one. On each wagon, there are two men, a driver and conductor. I am driver. I have it pretty easy as I have nothing to do, only drive. The other man does the delivering. I don't need to take care of the team at all. All I do is unhitch them and chase them upstairs (the wagons remained on the ground floor—Bob) and the hostlers  take care of them after. I start at 7 A.M., quit at 6 P.M. out of which I get two hours for dinner."

Six months later, Muir had a different story to tell. Wells Fargo saw aptitude, and responsibility made Muir a better man. Said he on March 31, 1891:

"I have a much better job than driving. I am conductor on a money wagon, delivering money to the banks. It is a very responsible position to hold and also I have to be very careful to whom I give the money. For instance, yesterday I had about 100,000 dollars to deliver."

Muir gave Wells Fargo a good days' work. Wells Fargo gave Muir a greater opportunity as a result. And he delivered.

Posted by Bob at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Animals, Artifacts, At Work, First-hand Accounts, Misc, Perspective, Photographs, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank

On Christmas Eve, 1884, Wells Fargo express agent Richmond Smith stood impatiently on the station platform in Reno. The train carrying the daily express shipment was late coming over the snowy Sierras. When the train arrived later that evening, one of the express packages had holiday trimmings and a bright express label which read "Please do not open until Christmas."

From the doorway, her mother’s voice asked, "Is it Santa Claus, darling?" "No, mother," the little girl replied, "it’s Wells Fargo!"

Don't even tell me that story doesn't make you weep uncontrollably—I know you're fibbing.

In the 1910s, Wells Fargo advert ised its express services as vital to the winter holiday season. Christmas wasn't always as big a holiday as it became in the 19th century.  In the 20th century, the icon of Santa Claus  was firmly established in Western imagination and the standards of gift-giving and a season of celebration  were embedded.

The real story behind Flossy the Doll is just as good as legend, though. Wells Fargo & Co’s Express delivered the  German bisque doll to four-year-old Ivan E. Sessions in 1884. She named the doll "Flossy" and spent many hours sewing clothes for her. Flossie was deluxe—she even had her own doll. In 1891, Ivan and Flossy won ?rst prize for best dressed doll at the Nevada State Fair. A century later, Ivan’s daughter donated Flossy to the Wells Fargo History Museum in San Francisco. Flossy lives in the Archives to this day, and emerges every holiday season as a display in the Museum.

Children of all ages still love Flossy. But there are fewer things more precious than one child's love for their doll. Which might be as close to "the true meaning of Christmas" as anything else.

Posted by Charles at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Found in Artifacts, Christmas, Holidays, Misc, Museums, Perspective, Photographs, Remember, San Francisco

Sparkletack  features an amazing video. It is the film taken by a tourist in 1941, visiting San Francisco with a movie camera. Sparkletack got the video, as he writes, from the Prelinger Archives . (It continues here.) 

If you're into things San Francisco, as many people are (especially San Franciscans, let me tell ya), you'll appreciate the footage for obvious reasons. John Summers, the filmer (is that a word?), enjoyed a day of brilliant sunshine and fairy-tale blue skies. He rode around on cable cars  and trolleys  (BIG difference) and got remarkable shots of a city before the huge transition resulting from World War II.

Summers was especially intrigued with Chinatown , holding his camera on people a little too long, to their minor annoyance. People see a camera and turn away quick (like me, prince of Unphotogenica). Makes sense in 1941—people were still pretty local in those days, and many had probably only heard of ethnic Americans. It had to be exotic.

For me, the best part of the Chinatown footage is that history of cuisine. What we now know as "Chinese food" used to be known by many as "Chop Suey."  Also, there's a near-collision on Grant and Clay streets about 12:25 into the film. Excitement, thy name is History.

Finally, check out Wells Fargo's world headquarters at Montgomery and Market streets at 6:09. It's this building—in living color!

Posted by Charles at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Artifacts, Films, First-hand Accounts, Holidays, Misc, Movies, Photographs, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank

Today—July 13, 2007—marks 155 years to the date that Wells, Fargo, and Co. opened for business on Montgomery Street in San Francisco. The Corporate Archives is lucky enough to have a picture that documents the event. Ten gentlemen posed in front of a two-story building.

Many are surprised to learn Henry Wells and William G. Fargo are not in the first office picture; they remained back in New York and only received updates via letters and rare visits. We know the names of two gentlemen who worked in that office on opening day, Reuben W. Washburn and Samuel W. Carter. The rest are critical contributors to the story of July 13, but unknown to later generations.

Check out the "Wells Fargo Through the Decades" slide show, and watch for three of my favorite images:

• Five women agents smiling in front of a San Diego office in 1917
• Members of the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank Club, enjoying a day at Spring Valley Lakes in June of 1921
• The Wells Belles of 1973; ready to defend the name of Wells Fargo through baseball.

They are all part of the fabric of the larger Wells Fargo story and, if not for a remaining image in our archives, nearly lost to posterity.

That brings me to today. We are having festivities in many Wells Fargo locations, including the San Francisco History Museum. Most of the everyday activities of life will not make it into the history books. But, just like those unknown faces in the first office picture, what you do today is making history.

Posted by Anne at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Found in Artifacts, At Work, Baseball, Events, Films, Holidays, Movies, Museums, Participate, Photographs, Remember, San Francisco, Wells Fargo Bank

Found this in the archives. It is Silver City, Idaho, and there's a band on Wells Fargo's deck.

There's probably a good reason for it—notice the building houses a photograph gallery. Meaning, a photographer trying to find a "hit" shot that will sell his work. In them days  (1880s), photographers were in the portrait biz, but the technology was improving. It was possible to start doing the photography we know today—find a subject and take a picture.

If you found a good shot, a nice picture resulted. A nice picture is something we all want to look at, so an admirer might hang it on the wall. Voila! Photography as art form . And Wells Fargo is, uh, on the ground floor of the innovation.

Another possibility is "The Music Man"  factor. Some guy actually pulled off the Harold Hill  caper, sold a bunch of instruments and uniforms to the excited folks in Silver City, and got this pic to use in the next town. Just a thought ...

If there are better explanations out there, let me have 'em. The zanier the better.

Posted by Charles at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Found in Artifacts, Films, Hollywood, Misc, Movies, Photographs, Remember, The Music Man, Wells Fargo Bank

Posted by Charles at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Found in Fourth of July, Holidays, Independence Day, Participate, Photographs, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank