Bank tellers and lollipops

[ClassyCo]

How did the tradition of bank tellers handing our lollipops start? Does the bank in your area give out lollipops? If so, what kind do they give out?

 

[Daniel Avery]

They did that when I was a kid, but I have not seen them giving out anything (except a bad attitude ) for probably 25 years. It might be still a 'thing' in some of the smaller, regional banks....but my bank won't even give out extra deposit slips!

As for how it started....well, I have a theory. During the Great Depression, there was a "run on the banks"---people were freaking out and withdrawing all their money from the banks out of fear things would collapse. The decision was made to temporarily close the banks and not allow people to get access to (that is, take away) their money, since that money was what made it possible for banks to make loans, finance mortgages, etc and stay in business. A lot of the banks closed permanently due to various issues. Without going into too much of a history lesson, that period when people were unable to access their own money was understandably scary. The stronger banks re-opened once the currency was stabilized, but it created at least two generations of Americans who did not trust banks. I know my great-aunt (b. 1902) was one of those people who kept her money under the mattress. Those born during the Depression were raised to be wary of banks not only because of the Run on the Banks, but also because so many people lost everything due to the Depression. The banks were often the ones who repossessed the car or foreclosed on the house, leaving the family blaming the bankers for their misfortune. So when the country became prosperous again in the post-war period, the banks had to win back the affections of a lot of people who mistrusted them or outright hated them. They offered free gifts (the toaster to open a new checking account became a cliche of the 1950s), and of course how better to win the favor of housewives than to make their kids happy with free candy? It would also help build bridges between the banks and those kids who would eventually grow up to have money of their own.

 

[ClassyCo]

I've been in banking, career-wise, for almost the past four years. I've worked as a teller, a customer service rep, and currently as a loan processor. I've worked at three different community-type banks -- and one credit union, briefly, if you count that -- and all of the tellers at the different banks give out lollipops, or "suckers", as they're called around my area. When Covid was at a peak back in 2020, the bank I was then-working at temporarily stopped giving out suckers -- just as they closed up the lobby of the bank and operated solely by the drive-thru-window. As a side note, those were some rough times to work at a bank. Everyone had to learn how to be a teller whether it was in their job description or not. With people being out sick, we had to learn to operate in other areas of the bank or just push customers off until that particular co-worker was back at work.

I also like your theory about how the tradition got started. It certainly appears to be a plausible one. The bank I worked at previously gave out a free gift with every new checking account -- we gave out Bluetooth speakers and headphones, pots and pans, cellphone chargers, blankets, cutting boards, knife sets, and many, many other things during my tenure there.

I remember the kids being very sad when we couldn't give them a sucker. It made me a little sad having to tell them no, but my laziness appreciated not having to fill-up the sucker buckets. LOL​

 

[DallasFanForever]

I deliver to a quite a few banks and I have to say that out of all of them there’s only one that still hands out lollipops. I’m not sure if it went away after Covid or just went away in general but I notice I’m not seeing it that much anymore.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The drive-up operation when I was young had a teller in each "booth" who provided personal service (and the lollipops). Back then, just having a drive-up was considered a big deal. Now of course it's all pneumatic tubes being sent to multiple cars from one source inside the bank, with one (maybe two) people manning the operation. There is no "human contact"-- just a voice coming out of the speaker. But I look back on those tellers in individual booths and think it must have felt very unsafe, being by themselves, and what does one do if there is a line of cars and....ahem, nature calls?

I confess I hated having to use the drive-up during Covid. I was so glad when the lobbies opened back up.

 

[ClassyCo]

Working as a teller, I must confess I'd much rather work the drive-thru than the lobby. My first love is working the first lane of the drive-thru, that way you still get to see people up close and you can develop relationships with them. The banks I've worked at are in small towns and we had lots of regular customers. We knew people by name and sometimes we knew their account number and what they wanted before they even started talking. Also, most drive-thru tellers have less they have to deal with too. Sure, the pace might be faster, but they typically don't have to deal with large change orders, making cashier's checks, or in some cases, deal with customers that aren't customers of said bank. That's why I liked running the drive-thru: quick transactions with familiar faces. Get them in, laugh with them, and push then push them on for the next car to roll in.​

 

[Englishboy]

It must be a distinctly American thing.

I’ve never heard of anyone giving out lollipops in UK banks, either past or present, although dentists did used to do something similar and give out lollipops after a check up when I was a kid.

 

[ClassyCo]

It must be a distinctly American thing.

I was wondering if our UK members would chime in and let us know if that was also a tradition their banks carry. It must be an American thing.
​

although dentists did used to do something similar and give out lollipops after a check up when I was a kid.

I seem to remember dentists giving out lollipops some when I was younger. It's been a long time since I recall that happening though. I'm not sure any dentists in our area still give out lollipops or not.

 

[ClassyCo]

and what does one do if there is a line of cars and....ahem, nature calls?

Every bank I've worked at in the past typically has two tellers working the drive-thru. If they don't, they were close enough to the front-line tellers so they could run upfront and ask someone to relieve them so they could go relieve themselves in the restroom.