How were large sums of money carried/transmitted prior to the 1940s or so?
Upvote:2
Large sums of cash were actually the instrument of choice in many applications. It seems strange and unsafe today, but there was usually no alternative. Depending on the amount involved you very well might hire a team of guards to safeguard you and your money as you moved, and you would be keen on taking advantage of things like hotel or train safes so you could avoid carrying it on your person as much as possible. If you were transporting a truly staggering amount of money you might very well accomplish it by filling up a safe and then shipping the entire safe between locations.
One duty that involved shipping and handling large sums of cash was payroll- paying the workers of a company. Each worker had to be paid in cash, so this meant carrying enough cash from the bank to the factory or job site to pay every worker their (typically) weekly or bi-weekly wages. Payroll was thus a dangerous job to do. Whether the money was carried, driven via a horse/coach, or moved on the train, those large sums of cash were favored targets of bandits and criminals.
Payroll was commonly transported via train where practical. There was a special car on trains called the "express car" whose job was to transport highly valuable articles such as cash or gold, and the people who guarded these cars were called "expressmen". Many of the daring train robberies you read about were targeted at these specific cars- some heists actually succeeded in detaching and stealing the entire car, leaving the robbers plenty of time to loot it of valuables.
More post
- 📝 When was the concept of "art criticism" first seen?
- 📝 Was there a state or kingdom in the Maghreb of North Africa that predates the founding of Carthage?
- 📝 When was the deadliest year in human history in absolute terms?
- 📝 Who is the person sitting to the left of corporal Hitler?
- 📝 How did Larry Wu-tai Chin's leak in Oct. 1970 — of a classified document — allow China "to alter [...] volume of anti-U.S. rhetoric in the press"?
- 📝 What was the lowest available population to the Soviet Union in WW2?
- 📝 What decides who goes in the front rank in a line infantry formation?
- 📝 What was the first regular airline service to pass low over urban areas?
- 📝 Should the Great Schism of 1054 be taken to be 1204 (or 1182) instead?
- 📝 What was the combat effectiveness of German infantry in the western front of the Second World War?
- 📝 Did Afghanistan make war with Alexander the Great?
- 📝 Who, if any, in JFK's inner circle argued against the plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion?
- 📝 Why did Kabila discard the name and flag of Zaire?
- 📝 I'm trying to find a primary source (or some historical authentication) for John Quincy Adams' Toledo War quote.
- 📝 Were Christians really burned for lighting by Nero?
- 📝 What was the reason that Poland wanted a part of Germany north of Stettin/Szczecin and west of the Oder?
- 📝 Did Mao Zedong and Chinese communists collude with the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War?
- 📝 What major historical event opened the door to the passage of a homesteading bill?
- 📝 Why did not US use solely (more) aviation and artillery when taking Okinawa during ww2?
- 📝 How was reconnaissance performed in medieval warfare?
- 📝 Where does the name of the country "Belarus" come from?
- 📝 What was the impact of Fischer vs. Spassky 1972 on the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union?
- 📝 WW1 Uniform - Which country does this uniform belong to?
- 📝 What kind of book is "Evangelium de transitu Mariae"?
- 📝 How extensive and developed was the ancient Kushite (Nubian) horse trade?
- 📝 How did China deal with the Black Death during the second plague pandemic?
- 📝 Could there have been wars between the Aztecs and the Persians?
- 📝 Have there been negative large-scale long term effects from vaccines?
- 📝 When did the Royal Navy start to fill a given rank of admiral with more than one officer?
- 📝 Which air minister said (before or during WW2) that parachute troops are just a circus?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How were large sums of money carried/transmitted prior to the 1940s or so?
- 📝 How densely populated were the Americas prior to European colonization?
- 📝 How large were the East India Company armed forces?
- 📝 Why does German money from the 1940s not bear Nazi symbols?
- 📝 How were smallpox vaccines enforced in the US?
- 📝 How severe were the casualties in ancient/medieval battles?
- 📝 Were there large scale protests after earlier presidential elections in the US?
- 📝 How kind were the Muslim occupations of North Africa?
- 📝 How were the cities of Milan and Bruges spared by the Black Death?
- 📝 How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII
- 📝 How prevalent were recreational drugs in the ancient world?
- 📝 How were Kurds involved (or not) in the invasion of Normandy?
- 📝 How much were telegraphists in the 1950s paid?
- 📝 If I were a well-to-do ancient Roman, could I make money by investing in the construction of an aqueduct?
- 📝 How unfavorable were the terms of Germany's "surrender" in WW1?
- 📝 How heavily were the British taxing their American colonies?
- 📝 How many lives were estimated to have been saved by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs?
- 📝 How expensive were castles? And how were the costs distributed?
- 📝 What were the criteria for class ranking at West Point prior to the Civil War?
- 📝 How far were women able to advance in the Gestapo?
- 📝 How come all the major WW1 rifles were bolt action?
- 📝 Were there any crops and livestock common to both the Old and New Worlds prior to the Columbian exchange?
- 📝 Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?
- 📝 About how many immigrants were on the Titanic?
- 📝 How were the West Berlin air corridors negotiated?
- 📝 How accurate and detailed were geographical maps created and updated by the Romans?
- 📝 How were small swords worn in the 18th century?
- 📝 How educated were the clergy during the Medieval period?
- 📝 How were the Bulgarians regarded by the Nazis during World War II?
- 📝 How were servants to the Kaiser of Imperial Germany treated and where may I find more information on them?
