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Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the
bank holding company
A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used to refer to these companies as well.
United States ...
formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsidiary of Manufacturers Hanover Corporation.
Charles J. Stewart was the company's first president and chairman.
The corporation acquired the former
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...
Corporation headquarters at
270 Park Avenue, and though it merged into
Chemical Banking Corporation for
$1.9 billion in 1991, the successor corporations down to today's
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. have continued to locate their headquarters in that building.
History
Manufacturers Trust Company
Manufacturers Hanover traces its origins to the 1905 founding of Citizens Trust Company of Brooklyn. Through a series of acquisitions, the bank would grow into one of New York's largest banks within its first twenty years. Citizens Trust's first major acquisitions came with its mergers with the Broadway Bank of Brooklyn in 1912 and then two years later with the Manufacturers National Bank of Brooklyn (1914). In 1915, the bank adopted the older "Manufacturers" name, changing its name to the Manufacturers Trust Company. The "Manufacturers" name had been in use since 1858, when the Mechanics' Bank of Williamsburgh (founded 1853) was renamed the Manufacturers National Bank. Coincidentally, Manufacturers Trust Company had also been the name of a
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
-based bank, founded in 1896 and acquired in 1902 by the Title Guarantee and Trust Company, another Brooklyn bank.
Manufacturers Trust acquired a Manhattan presence with its acquisition of the West Side Bank of New York in 1918. Later Manufacturers Trust acquired the Ridgewood National Bank of Queens (1921), the North Side Bank of Brooklyn (1922), the Industrial Bank of New York (1922), the Columbia Bank of New York (1923), and the Yorkville Bank of New York (1925), to become the 29th largest bank in the United States by 1925.
In 1932, Manufacturers Trust created the National Hotel Management Company (NMH) to centrally oversee the hotels the bank held mortgages on. They appointed hotel pioneer
Ralph Hitz
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
as President of the NMH. This was because, even at the height of the Great Depression, Hitz had been able to turn a profit at the
New Yorker Hotel
The New Yorker, A Wyndham Hotel is a mixed-use hotel building at 481 Eighth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1930, the New Yorker Hotel was designed by Sugarman and Berger in the ...
, which the Manufacturers Trust also held the mortgage for. By the time of Hitz's death in 1940, the NHM had become the largest hotel organization in the United States and managed the New Yorker,
the Lexington
The Lexington, also known as Lexington Apartments, is a historic building located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The five-story brick structure on a raised basement was completed in 1908 as the city's first high-rise apartment building. with ...
and the Belmont Plaza hotels (New York);
the Congress Hotel (
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
);
the Netherland Plaza (Cincinnati);
Adolphus Hotel
Hotel Adolphus (often referred to as "The Adolphus") is an upscale hotel in the Main Street District of Downtown Dallas Dallas, Texas. A Dallas Landmark, it was for several years the tallest building in the state. Today, the hotel is part of Mar ...
(
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
); the Van Cleve (
Dayton
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
);
the Book-Cadillac (
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
); the
Nicollet Hotel
The Nicollet Hotel, in downtown Minneapolis, was located on a slightly irregular block bounded by Hennepin Avenue, Washington Avenue, Nicollet Avenue and 3rd Street South adjacent to Gateway Park.
The original hotel on the site (often called the ...
(
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
); The
New York Municipal Airport Restaurants (New York) and the
Eastern Slope Inn
The Eastern Slope Inn is a historic hotel at 2760 White Mountain Highway (U.S. Route 302) in North Conway, New Hampshire, North Conway, Carroll County, New Hampshire, Carroll County, New Hampshire. Built in 1926, it is one of the community's most ...
(
North Conway
North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...
,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
).
The National Hotel Management Company was dissolved within a month of Hitz's death in 1940.
Continued consolidation (1961–1992)
In 1961,
Manufacturers Trust Company
Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York City, New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsid ...
merged with Central Hanover Bank & Trust Company (Hanover Trust) creating Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. The bank became the main source of financing for check cashing stores. The bank reached its commercial heyday in the mid-1970s, when it ran a series of commercials that used the tagline, "It's banking the way you want it to be." ''
Twilight Zone'' writer
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...
and comedian
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well ...
served as celebrity spokesmen. At the same time, a Manufacturers Hanover billboard advertising "Super Checking" was a prominent feature of the newly renovated
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
. The billboard could be seen as
Chris Chambliss
Carroll Christopher Chambliss (born December 26, 1948) is an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball from to for the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He served as a coach for th ...
hit the home run that won the
1976 American League Championship Series
The 1976 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five playoff pitting the New York Yankees against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to represent the American League in the 1976 World Series. The Yanke ...
for the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
over the
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
. Also during that period, Manufacturers Hanover heavily promoted its "Any Car" Loan using an "Any Car", known as the "FordChevAmChrysWagon", made up of parts from 40 different cars.
In 1987, the bank bought some of the branches of Dollar Dry Dock Savings Bank. In 1992, it bought the New York City branches of the failed Goldome. By 1992, it was running out of money due to savings account interest rates and bad loans. On June 22 of that year, Chemical Bank purchased the operations of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, and on that day, Manufacturers Hanover ceased to exist.
Following the merger with Chemical, in 1996, the new Chemical bought
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fina ...
and four years later would merge with
J.P. Morgan & Co. to form
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
.
Prior to acquisition, the bank was sometimes referred to as "Manny Hanny."
Timeline of mergers and name changes
The timeline below, unless otherwise noted, indicates the purchase of the named entity by Manufacturers Hanover Corporation or its immediate controlling predecessors. Exceptions include the first and last entries (original charter and dissolution of the company by buyout, respectively), and several name changes.
*1905 – Citizens Trust Company of Brooklyn (original New York State charter, no direct predecessors)
*1912 – Broadway Bank of Brooklyn
*1914 – Manufacturers National Bank of Brooklyn, resulting in name change to Manufacturers-Citizens Trust Company
*1915 – Name change to Manufacturers Trust Company (no merger involved)
*1918 – West Side Bank
*1921 – Ridgewood National Bank
*1922 – North Side Bank of Brooklyn
*1922 – Industrial Bank of New York
*1923 – Columbia Bank
*1925 – Yorkville Bank
*1925 – Gotham National Bank
*1925 – Fifth National Bank of the City of New York
*1927 – Commonwealth Bank
*1927 – Standard Bank
*1928 – United Capitol National Bank and Trust Company
*1929 – State Bank & Trust Company
*1930 – Pacific Trust Company
*1931 – Midtown Bank of New York
*1931 – Bryant Park Bank
*1931 – Midwood Trust Company
*1932 –
Chatham Phenix National Bank & Trust Company
*1937 – Equitable Trust Company of New York (1930–1937)
*1939 –
Banca Commerciale Italiana Trust Co.
Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) established Banca Commerciale Italiana Trust Co. of New York (BCITNY) in 1924 and closed it in 1939, in the run-up to World War II.
In 1917 Lodovico Toeplitz, chief of the Foreign Department of BCI, visited New Yo ...
of New York
*1942 – Standard National Bank, Woodside, N.Y.
*1946 – Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn
*1947 – Fidelity National Bank in New York, The
*1949 – National Bronx Bank of New York
*1950 – Brooklyn Trust Company
*1953 – Peoples Industrial
*1961 – Central Hanover Bank & Trust Company, results in name change to Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (parent named Manufacturers Hanover Corporation)
*1991 – Goldome (assets)
*1992 – Purchased by
Chemical Bank
Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world.
Beginning ...
, and ceases to exist
Central Hanover Bank & Trust Company
The final name of the company was Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, and the primary banking subsidiary was Manufacturers Hanover Trust. This name was a result of the merger of predecessor Manufacturers Trust with Central Hanover Bank & Trust.
Central Hanover was also a large, well-known bank before the merger. It was formed in 1929 from the merger of two other banking giants of the time, Central Union Trust Company and Hanover National Bank.
Hanover National built one of the early skyscrapers of New York, the Hanover National Building at 11 Nassau Street. It had twenty-two floors and was 385 feet high.
The corporate history of predecessor Hanover Bank is as follows:
* 1851 – Established Hanover Bank, NYS charter
* 1865 – Name change to Hanover National Bank of the City of New York (Federal)
* 1929 – Name change to Hanover Bank of the City of New York (NYS)
* 1929 – Bought by Central Union Trust Company of New York (see below)
The corporate history of predecessor Central Union Trust Company is as follows:
* 1873 – Established Central Trust Company of New York
* 1901 – Continental National Bank of New York (est. 1853)
* 1912 –
Gallatin National Bank of the City of New York (est. 1829)
* 1918 – Union Trust Company of New York; changed name to Central Union Trust Company of New York
* 1927 – Greenwich National Bank of the City of New York (est. 1830)
* 1929 – Hanover Bank of the City of New York; changed name to Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company
* 1951 – Changed name to Hanover Bank (no merger)
* 1961 – Bought by Manufacturers Trust Company
See also
*
*
List of bank mergers in the United States
This is a partial list of major banking company mergers in the United States.
Table
Mergers chart
This 2012 chart shows some of the mergers noted above. Solid arrows point from the acquiring bank to the acquired one. The lines are labeled ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
The Bank Merger; Big Bank Merger to join Chemical, Manufacturers New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, July 16, 1991
Merging the Portfolios; New Chemical Bank to Have Big Amount of Real Estate Loans, and Their Troubles New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, July 18, 1991
Merger Announcement
{{JPMorgan Chase, state=collapsed
Holding companies of the United States
Defunct banks of the United States
Defunct companies based in New York City
Banks based in New York City
American companies established in 1905
Holding companies established in 1905
Banks established in 1905
Banks disestablished in 1992
1905 establishments in New York City
1992 disestablishments in New York (state)
JPMorgan Chase
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
American companies disestablished in 1992
Holding companies disestablished in 1992