Imagine you are a resident of a small but emerging economy that is the City of Naples in Florida. You have a nice little house by the beach that gives you a warm breeze while viewing the gorgeous sunset. You probably have a source of modest income and you’ve probably partnered up with a good neighbor or two in a small business that gives you a little more extra income. However, there’s a catch – it’s 1949 and there’s no internet, no mobile banking and electricity sometimes falters and shops, hotels and businesses have just sprung up, recovering perhaps from the Second World War. The world is a very different place and you don’t know what to do, especially with securing your money. This is where The Bank of Naples can step in.
The Bank of Naples was first established in 1949 and thus was the first-ever town’s bank in Naples, Florida. The bank was erected in no less than the Fifth Avenue South, the center of the city’s economic and commercial activities and still is today. People were a bit laid-back when it came to there money during this time in Naples, but the establishment of this bank introduced a sort of awareness to the citizenry of the importance of budgeting and saving money in a bank, which is always a good thing. The person who led the spreading of this kind of awareness was one Mamie Tooke, an assistant cashier who was well-loved by the locals during those times.
The Bank of Naples opened at a very crucial period in the history of Naples because this was the time when people were getting a fresh start out of their lives. The war just ended and it ended in a victory, everybody was hopeful for the future and there was a baby boom – but that’s another story in of itself. The important thing for people at the time generally was to have to start again in a clean slate. This was the general sentiment of the country as a whole, while in small-town Naples, people were just welcoming the idea of saving for their future and their children. So, this was the crux from where the Bank of Naples emerged and thus quickly became and essential part of the life of the common people of Naples. The new bank, the new supermarket that opened across the street, the on-going construction of Cambier Park and many other businesses opening that time became vital to the growth of Naples.
And vital indeed it was, for many of the original depositors of the Bank of Naples became wealthy landowners and the same goes for the bank which still survives today as the Bank of America. This was a time when people had it rough but through the proper management of their finances the people that time were able to make something big for themselves and for their inheritors. This is all thanks to a small town bank that opened in 1949 and a certain lady who showed concern to her neighbors by teaching them how to save a little bit of money away.
