When Bank Cashiers Signed Lottery Tickets

In this video, I look at an unusual connection between Kansas City bank cashiers and Louisiana Lottery tickets from the 1890s. The story starts with a National Bank Note from the First National Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, signed by E. F. Swinney as bank president. Earlier in his career, Swinney was cashier of the bank and his name also appears on a Louisiana Lottery ticket. I compare the Kansas City, Kansas lottery tickets, undersigned by local bank cashiers, with an earlier New Orleans lottery ticket. The comparison shows how later tickets used local bank names and cashier signatures as part of their appeal to buyers. C. W. Trickett, cashier of Wyandotte National Bank in Kansas City, Kansas, drew criticism in the local press, along with other Kansas City bank cashiers, over the bank’s apparent connection to the lottery. By 1894, lottery activity was illegal in both Kansas and Missouri, but it could still be known, tolerated, and handled through ordinary-looking business channels. These tickets preserve names, banks, signatures, and local history that can connect directly to collectible National Bank Notes. #banknotes #currency #papercurrency