St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-08
ABOUT BANK CHECKS.

indications of Character in Size
Vanderbilts have the Plainest
Checks.
A man shows good deal of his indi-
viduality in his checks. A flashy man
willhave flashy check, and the man
who wears loud clothes and big rings
will have check engraved on tinted
paper with pictures, and his name
covering the ends of it with ornamental
characters. A plain, quiet business
man has plain, quiet check. 1t does
n OF follow that because a man has his
check made to order, instead of taking
the ready-made kind that the banks
furnish him, that he has a big bank &C
count, any more than cheap suit of
clothes indicates that man cannot
afford to buy better. On the contrary, a
man with a bank account who uses
quiet checks usually has a bigger bal
ance than the man who sends out Speci-
mems of engraving with his signature to
them.
The Astors use checks with no en-
craving on them, and everything is
printed When Astor draws personal
check the name is printed near the left
edge in the plainest kind of way. The
numbers are not even printed on them,
but when filled in at all are filled in
with ink. An Astor check, however,
does not usually have the same writing
throughout, as there are clerks who fill
in the body of the check. The sigma
The Astors use good quality pink
colored paper. They have the
plainest possible kind of check.
Unlike the AstOrs' plain checks, some
people use tints, engravings, pictures
and ornaments in quantity. Some small
storekeepers have checks with their adj
vertisementS; in some cases with their
pictures on tinted paper. There is
coffin company that has picture of
coffin with its advertisement on it's
check, and tombstone manufacturers
have been known to put engraved mon
uments on theirs. 1t is a common thing
for a picture of the place of business to
be at the left-hand end of a check, with
the name and address under it. One of
the most noticeable checks has been
given up now, as it attracted too much
attention. That was the check of man
who used Bible pictures and texts.
Many wealthy men think that the
checks the banks give out for nothing
! areigood enough for them. If any adj
/ ditiDn is made it is to have their names
printed in plain type on the end of the
/. check. Banks usually have their checks
I printed on some other than perfectly
/ white paper. PinkiShpaper is the most
/, common. That is the kind the AstorS
/ useg The favorite color of Philadelphia
/ banks is green The Western banks
|. have more elaborate checks than the
Eastern banks have, but the paper is
notso good and the checks cost less.
The Western banks have more engrav-
: ing than the Eastern banks. and West
ern men have more engraving and adj
vertisements than Eastern men. East
/ ernsinen have better paper.
+ ! The Vanderbilts' checks are more
elaborate than the Astors, though not
much more. They are not as elaborate
p now as they used to be.
+ Jay Gould is one of the most careless
I of al rich men about the kind of paper
that he draws checks on. When he was
gathering the roads together for his
Southwestern system he drew up a
check for several million dollars on the
back of an envelope. This check was
all in his own handwriting, and it
would have been harder to alter than
many checks on picture paper.
Capitalists usually have plain checks
and StOrekeeperS elaborate checks. A
small broker has a more elaborate check
than rich broker, as rule. Men with
small accounts also have better checks
than men with bigger accounts, though
that is governed to great extent by
the kind of checks that the bank is ac-
customed to give out.
One of the first things that some men
do when they go into business for them
selves is to have their checks made to
order They think it gives them a GER
tain distinction, and that it shows
Getting checks made to order
does not cost much, and it is
so easily done that it detractS from
rather than elevates the standing of the
man who does it. A check can be writ
ten on plain piece of paper that will
draw money out of bank if the man
who sends it has money there just as
well as if elaborate engraviHgs formed
the background of the writing.
If. there can be said to be fashion in
checks the small checks are the most
fashionable ones A big check is bad
form. 1t is also bad form to carry a
pocket check book. 1t has an air of
display about it and shows the char
acter of man, just. as the
wearing of many diamonds does.
1t costs nothing to carry pocket check
book. The proper thing to do is to have
big book, three checks wide, and to
tear out two or three to carry around
with you loose in your pocket, just as if
they were cash. 1t is also better form
to have printed check than an en-
graved check. The Astors' precedent
should be sufficient for this. 1t should
interest fashionable young man to
know that everything about the Astors'
check, except the date, number, name
of the payee, amount and signature, is
printed in type of the old English
style.