26
Apr 2008
Urbana Money
Posted in Cool by Neo at 6:19 am | No Comments »
Accoridng to a Cit yof Urbana (IL) website, in 1933
When Illinois [closed] its banks in the depths of the Great Depression,
the Urbana Association of Commerce [issued] “Urbana money,” which [was] used
for a month and [kept] the local System alive.
Apparently local merchants guaranteed that when the banks reopened, the “Urbana” money could be exchanged for the real thing. My daughter learned about this in Tutor. As she says, the money was orange and “looked like Monopoly money.”
Image from DepressionScrip.com, a site chock-full of the wonderfully cheesy funny-money that kept many a community afloat during those dark days, with thanks to Jonathan for the research.
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