Checks and receipts from Brooklyn businesses and institutions collection
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Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection includes sixty-three checks and receipts from Booklyn businesses, institutions, and individuals for goods and services, charitable donations, cemetery burials, real estate, and boarding children.
Historical note
Checks are a written order to a bank by an account holder authorizing the bank to make a payment from their account to a payee. Checks as a form of payment originated in the eastern Mediterranean and eventually were widely used in Europe. Using checks in the United States became more common after the National Banking Acts in the 1860s, which limited banks' ability to produce bank notes. Other requirements in these Acts encouraged banks to develop relationships with other institutions in large cities and better transportation made shipping physical currency easier between banks. Bank clearinghouses, established for the purposes of settling checks, also started opening in the U.S. in the 1850s. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 allowed the Federal Reserve to set up a national check clearinghouse that all members of the Federal Reserve had to use. Check clearing became faster and more reliable throughout the 20th century due to automation and computerization. Check use post-1995 dropped dranatically as consumers began to rely more on electronic forms of payment.
Source: The Evolution of the Check as a Means of Payment: A Historical Survey, Stephen Quinn and William Roberds (2008)
Arrangement
The collection is arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
A collection of checks and receipts from Brooklyn businesses and institutions. Some items are on official letterhead and some were written on lined writing paper. The checks and receipts represent payment for railroad and stagecoach freight services, insurance companies, newspaper advertising, church fees, house repairs, beer, coal, wood, hay, milk, charitable donations, directory subscription, books, cemetery interment, boarding children, piano rental, clothing, and real estate.
Companies and organizations represented in the collection are Atlantic Bank, Bergin Farm, The Newtown Stage Line, Lafayette Fire Insurance Company, Journal of Commerce, National Express Company, Deutsch Evangelisch Lutherische Zions Gemeinde, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Daily Union, Bank of New-York, J. A. Oxley and Company, Talmage and Company, Samuel Thompson's Nephew, J. Carhart, Thomas Houseworth, Brooklyn Daily Times, Long Island Milk Dairy, Original City and County Scales, Kings County Fire Insurance Company, Brooklyn Library Building Find Association, Long Island Bank, Mechanics Bank, George H. Berns Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Housatonic Valley Milk, Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, Williamsburgh Savings Bank, East Brooklyn Savings Bank, the Nassau Gas Light Company, Mechanics and Traders Bank of Brooklyn, Mechanics and Traders Exchange, Rand's New York City Business Directory, International Publishing Company, Ridgewood Ice Company, Cypress Hills' Cemetery, Williamsburg Coke Office, J. Groppe, Dealer in Coal and Wood, German Savings Bank of Brooklyn, Williamsburgh Gas Light Company, The Peoples Gas Light Company, H. F. Burroughs and Company, New York and New Jersey Telephone Company, Richard B. Treacy's Piano and Organ Warerooms, Hamilton Bank of Brooklyn, Von Glahn Brothers, Hitchcock Realty Company, A. D. Matthews' Sons, and The Evergreens Cemetery.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
Material in this collection is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Checks and receipts from Brooklyn businesses and institutions collection, CBHM.0014, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Immediate source of acquisition unknown. Formally accessioned in 2022.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
If digital surrogates exist, they should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The records were processed and arranged by Alice Griffin in 2023.
