The bank traces its history to the
Woolworth National Bank in San Francisco.
Charles Crocker, who was one of
The Big Four of the
Central Pacific Railroad and the head of construction for the western half of America's
first transcontinental railroad, acquired a controlling interest in Woolworth for his son
William Henry Crocker. The bank was renamed Crocker Woolworth National Bank, later Crocker National Bank. In 1925, Crocker National merged with the First National Bank of San Francisco, founded by
James D. Phelan, to form Crocker First National Bank. In 1956, Crocker First National Bank merged with the Anglo California National Bank (established by
Herbert Fleishhacker) to form Crocker-Anglo Bank. The commercial was intended to help Crocker appeal to young people. The song, written
Paul Williams (lyrics) and
Roger Nichols (music) and sung by Williams, played over footage of a couple getting married and just starting out. Direct reference to the bank was left out, in part to make the song more marketable. The commercial turned out to be very popular, but it attracted customers in which the bank was not interested: young adult customers with no collateral to use for loans. The campaign was eventually suspended, and Crocker subsequently franchised it to other banks. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Crocker cultivated a reputation for customer service and convenience, including expanded hours. As a part of its promotional campaign, the bank gave various stuffed animals to new customers, including "Sunny", a teddy bear, "Crocker" Spaniel stuffed dogs, and a set of stuffed circus animal "Crockers". It was also one of the first California banks to offer
automated teller machine service. One early television commercial showed a young businessman confidently using the machine, while speaking to it as if it were a person. He was followed by an elderly woman approaching it for the first time, and greeting it with a very uncertain "Hello." On April 21, 1975, a
Carmichael, California branch of the bank in the Sacramento area was robbed by several members of the
Symbionese Liberation Army. SLA member
Emily Harris accidentally fired her shotgun (as she later said in a plea deal) and killed Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year-old customer and mother of four. Crocker National Bank was purchased by the
British financial institution
Midland Bank in 1981, but after a series of financial losses, it was sold to
Wells Fargo Bank in 1986. Crocker's executive vice president and two-thirds of the top 70 executives lost their jobs because of the merger. ==In popular culture==