Wells Fargo is a Banking Pioneer

The Wells Fargo bank in downtown Minneapolis used to be the Northwestern National Bank long before it became Norwest and, eventually, Wells Fargo.

I obtained my first car loan from Northwestern Bank. I borrowed $500 in 1970 to buy a 1965 Mustang with 50,000 miles. Ah, the good old days. On top of the bank was a weatherball that you could see from almost anywhere in town. I probably chose the bank to do my banking at because of that weatherball. In fact, I can still recite the ditty from memory:

"When the weatherball is green, no change in weather is foreseen. When the weatherball is red, warmer weather is ahead. When the weatherball is white, colder weather is in sight. If colors blink by night or day, precipitation's on the way."

I used to leap from my bed in the morning and run to the window. If the weatherball forecasted snow, it was white and blinking, and that meant I might not have to go to school!

Wells Fargo has come a long way since then. Both the Minneapolis Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo building in downtown Sacramento have a history museum, and that original weatherball is on display in Minneapolis . . . read more about Wells Fargo.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:

• History of Washington Mutual
  
• Profile of Bank of America
  
• Where to Get a Mortgage

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