A most helpful machine

Some years ago when The Elgin Bank was sold to a bigger bank the late Ray Arbuckle, husband of Elgin Historical Assn board member LaVerne Arbuckle, found this machine in the vault. It is a check cancelling machine. Many people today don't remember when you used to get your checks back in the mail every month with an indication that they had been paid. That's what this machine was for. It spelled out the word Paid and ENB and the date in little perforations. Until recently we weren't too sure how old this thing was, but I recently found an advertisement in the 1927 Elgin Courier that shows a check with an identical perforation pattern, so it is at least 90 or so years old.

The machine has served a purpose that its inventors certainly never considered. It is a way to keep small children occupied while their parents and caretakers are looking at exhibits in the Elgin Depot Museum. Especially little boys just love to pull that handle and make holes in sheet of scrap paper.