After the fiasco at Sears, the months flew by and fall 1959 brought about my return to college for one more semester. There is something about college that creates lifelong friendships along with so many cherished memories.
By mid–October, I created my resume and decided it was time to contact some of the key places of employment in the Ashland area.
One of those was the 2nd National Bank which was a good match for my resume of business administration. After Thanksgiving, I was invited for an interview and shortly thereafter, I was scheduled to complete a series of dexterity tests to reflect my ability to handle coins and cash with relative speed.
I began my new career on January 2, 1960, as the bank’s newest teller and immediately assumed my training.
There was much more to the position that I ever realized. I could readily see where hand and finger dexterity was a must.
Sixty-seven long years have passed since my first day at 2nd National as I assumed my rubber stamp as teller #6. This number identified me as having cashed checks, accepted deposits etc.
My “on the job” training was quick and complete with my mentor – Ron Hackler, so it wasn’t long that #6 was in his own teller’s cage with his highly visible name plate and a smile for every customer.
Our Teller’s staff included – Bill Boyd, Jim Jordan, Ron Hackler, Omar Gayheart, Don Smith, Eddie Bugg, Betty Johnson, Jim Edmonds and Jim Daniels.
One of the key facets of teller training was accepting a deposit where there were multiple payments to various deductions and subsequently arrive at “cash back” figure.
This transaction was covered in training thoroughly with the duty of the teller to arrive at a net figure the customer desired.
However, I quickly discovered three (3) elements of the accepted mode of training for the transaction that permitted the possible elements of error.
• The teller was trained to conduct the math manually on the bank deposit slip that included arriving at a net figure by using 5th grade subtraction by pen. Sometimes there were as many as five (5) deductions.
• This transaction was attempted with a breach of concentration between the teller from the customer engaging in a conversation, which created a genuine risk of an error.
• The tellers were equipped with “manual” adding machines with a lever and a tape. The machines were non-electric, and their function was to simply keep tabs on the checks received for a daily total as closing.
• They did subtract, multiply and divide. These features were not used in the accepted mode of transaction.
In the event any teller was “short” $25 of balancing at the end of the business day via their balance sheets, all tellers reported to the proof department to manually check all deposit slips with the stamp of #6 and verify my subtraction visible on the face of the deposit slip.
However, I often wondered why the bank didn’t utilize electric machines which would have eliminated the use of manual arithmetic many times during a business day which would have been much quicker and precise.
I’m sure the coming years brought about new and updated procedures that were a vital part of banking.
I will never forget a few days before Christmas as the bank closed, we began balancing when one of bank officers made his rounds to every teller and gave us a new crisp $5 bill while wishing us Merry Christmas.
We all knew what the downtown businesses gave their employees for Christmas as we cashed their checks when they came in during their lunch. Checks ranged from over $100 to $50 – which made our tempers boil.
Head teller Jim Jordan called for a teller meeting. He took the anemic $5 bill as an insult to us all and stated, “If you wish, I will gather all $5 and give it back to them!”
We agreed and Jim delivered ten $5 bills to our version of Ebenezer Scrooge while saying,
“Here’s your $50, you all need it more than we do!”
That stunt as I remember, got Jim into some hot water, but he later said it was worth it all.
2nd National was loaded with top notch professionals many of whom became close friends, Joe Porter, Don Edwards, Ford Dixon, Betty Compton, Nancy Payne, Eloise Wyant, Carlyn Vanover Hacker, Jane Lowe, Janet Dobyns, Pat Litzenberger, Jack Traylor, E. Paul Williams. Leonard Campbell was the President.
Our miniscule pay was a problem for most of us. For me, my net take home pay for two weeks was $98.15.
There was a bank policy that I knew little about. In essence, it was a policy prohibiting extra employment to supplement our bank salary.
However, we only worked Monday through Friday, and we all had weekends and holidays off. It’s a good bet, many likely moonlighted and the bank never knew.
One day in 1961, local radio personality Hal Murphy came to my teller window and we became good friends. Somehow, the short conversation centered on our low pay, and he offered me a job at WIRO in Ironton, Ohio working weekends to supplement my income.
Radio was something I knew absolutely nothing about, and I let Hal know my limitations. He answered quickly, stating that I had a good voice and I could be trained quickly with no problems.
I had vaguely heard about the bank policy prohibiting extra employment, but my family needed the extra income, and I decided to take the chance as it was likely I would not be detected.
First thing I had to do was change my name to an “on air” radio name to conceal my identity. I changed it to “MIKE TODD.”
Two years went by and in 1963 I was now working at Ashland’s WCMI that broadcasted from a huge window overlooking Winchester Avenue. As luck would have it, one Sunday afternoon there I was broadcasting from WCMI’s “Color Radio” window when my luck ran out.
I got caught!
At the red light, traffic backed up parallel to my broadcasting window. In the car was my boss’s wife Earle Dixon. She saw me and then waving while pointing me out to her husband and my boss – Ford. After seeing me, he shook his head and drove on.
Monday, after the bank closed, I was reprimanded and given orders to resign my part-time job or face termination. So, with no full-time position available, much to my chagrin, I resigned.
Some months later, I was offered full time employment at WIRO and just like that, MIKE TODD was back in radio where the rest is broadcasting history.
My short tenure at 2nd National overall was just fine. I loved the entire staff I worked with and sadly, given the many years that have passed, I’m sure many are no longer with us given the passage of time.
Today, the Community Trust Bank occupies 1544 Winchester Avenue where once stood, the proud Second National Bank.
Second National was indeed – the “Bank That Didn’t” –
• Replace the manual teller’s subtraction of several deductions on a customer’s deposit slip with a modern electric machine programmed to arrive at a correct net cash back figure for the customer. Given the constant conversation with the teller from the customer, this provided a severe chance of mathematical human error several times during a business day.
• It didn’t allow its employees to seek and maintain a part-time position in any capacity throughout the entire work week. This included working part time on Saturday and Sundays when the Bank was closed.
• Did not allow taking time off from the death of a close family member such as an aunt.
Second National Bank began serving customers in 1888 and over the decades became a pillar of the business community.
One thing for sure, working at the Bank from 1960-1964 was an adventure, and so it was for a young kid named Mike Todd as he played the hits on radio for decades to come.
Mike Tussey has “retired” from a 60-plus-year career as a legendary play-by-play announcer for over 2000 football, baseball, and basketball games, including most recently for ESPN+. His career also includes a stint in law enforcement, teaching and coaching, and writing books, including the “Touchdown Saints.” He grew up in Eastern Kentucky and now lives in Florence with his wife, Jo. He has opened another “Door of Opportunity” and is now a regular columnist for the NKyTribune.