Between 1950 and 1970 the most powerful banker in the Southwest commissioned dozens of branch offices in the Phoenix metropolitan area; they appeared from nowhere, like pretty dice rolled out on a hot, empty tray. The city grew up around them, between them, because of them.

In the 1960s, this imagination and flair took the form of these outlandish and entertaining banks all over the Valley, made possible by a unique combination of the mid-Century Zeitgeist, the climate, the Phoencian self-image, and money. Some conservative citizens clucked into their cornflakes that this was terribly improper and verging over into show-biz.

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