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So how does the account exec know what the prices are?
1954. "Merrill Lynch account executive chalks up current stock prices on quotation board in firm's new mobile office." One of the earlier mobile apps. View full size.
From the Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1954:
Caption on above photo:
Merrill's New Mobile Boardroom
Center compartment, or boardroom, of bus which the investment firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane will use as mobile branch office in Chicago suburbs beginning next month.
Text of article:
Firm to Put Buses in Use Next Month.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane, the country's largest investment house and the author of such innovations as evening office hours for securities firms, will put part of its business on wheels. The company has ordered three specially designed buses to operate as mobile branch offices in 15 suburban communities around Chicago, Boston, and Newark, N. J. Homer P. Hargrave, managing partner in Chicago, said the Chicago unit will arrive in town between April 5 and April 10. It will be on exhibit in the Lydy parking lot on La Salle St. across from the Board of Trade building for several days before it starts on its scheduled runs.
Once it begins to travel its regular route the bus will be in Hammond on Mondays, Gary on Tuesdays, Indiana Harbor on Wednesdays, Waukegan on Thursdays, and Evanston on Fridays, Hargrave said. Arrangements have been made for the bus to be parked in the same location in each town each week.
Each bus will contain a boardroom where stock prices are posted and two private offices where investors or potential investors may talk with Merrill Lynch account executives. The buses will be equipped with radio-telephones tied in directly with the firm's private wire system, making market quotations available on an up to the minute basis.
The interiors will be decorated in silver and blue. Windows, fashioned of glass resistant to glare and heat, will be equipped with venetian blinds.
Definitely not a Windows mobile app.
I'd forgotten about those beanbag-filled ashtrays. I was a deckhand on a private yacht in the early 1970s and remember the disgusting job of cleaning identical ashtrays after weekend sailing expeditions.
They were perfect for use on moving conveyances like sailboats and mobile homes. And private railroad cars, it seems.
There are at least 25 defunct companies on the boards.
This also has my vote for best Shorpy placement ever.
Looks like Shorpy is hot mover. Also, what is code for ashtrays? I.e., how many are required per linear foot of shelving? This LOOKS almost sufficient, but I am not sure.
I wish I'd bought Shorpy when it was $40 - I'd be a virtual millionaire now.
On Shorpy:
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