Cash Moves Everything Around Me

Here's a selection of bank notes, part of the Wells Fargo Bank corporate archive that I photographed for the book, Time Well Kept. 

Of course, it's presidents on the bills now, but back then it was any old Treasury Secretary they could find.

Old Ben Franklin on this one (and his drinking buddy, I guess). I always pictured this scene being far less pastoral, you know, driving rain and lightning flashes and Ben's pince-nez threatening to fly away in the wind. On the right, that lady is Electricity, and I'm not really sure what she's doing with America there - is she rescuing or wrestling?

The main picture here is De Soto Discovering the Mississippi by William Henry Powell. I was pretty disturbed by the apparent baby crucifixion happening in the right corner, but in the color version, it's clear that's a decorative crucifix. Whew.

For you conspiracy buffs out there, the inscription is an abbreviation for the phrase Thesauri Americae Septentrionalis Sigillum, which translates to "The Seal of the Treasury of North America". North America!

They went nuts with the typography on this one. I love the font for the words "United States", and the fact that it actually says "Wells Fargo". Finally, those are actual signatures, of the bank president and the bank cashier, on the note.

Time Well Kept

Wells Fargo has released the book I shot for them. It's an interesting, illustrated history of the West, through the lens of Wells Fargo, which, of course, has done more than just banking. I was trying to dream up some clever exposition about it, but it turns out the inside leaf has it covered:

"When Businessmen Henry Wells and William G. Fargo gathered a small group of investors at Astor House in New York on March 18, 1852, they had no idea they would be forming what would eventually become one of the country's top financial services companies and one of the world's most recognized brands. Nor did they realize the founding documents they signed would one day be part of their company's extensive corporate archives, collected, preserved, and catalogued for future generations to come.


"Today, the Wells Fargo Corporate Archives and historical collections encompass items from over eleven thousand companies. Some items are on display in our eleven corporate history museums; others hide and still remain undiscovered in our archives.

"This book is the story of the Wells Fargo Corporate Archives. Tended by a dedicated staff, Wells Fargo's collection has grown over a century and today is the company's corporate memory. The scenes of the American frontier, early banking documents, stagecoaches, advert-isements, and all the historical artifacts serve a function larger than promoting the company's distinctive role in our history. Our corporate archives tell the story of our nation and its banking past and present."


The book is for sale at the Wells Fargo History Museums, or you can call (415) 396-6408 and order one.