2/13/2008 (13 years ago!)
“Vallars” are a historical fact. In 1931, after the stock market had crashed and everyone was broke, depressed, and Roosevelt hadn’t been elected with his million promises (none of which worked), frantic people in Salt Lake City began printing “vallars.” Townspeople banded together and created a group which they called the ‘National Development Association,’ (NDA). The NDA made its own money, which they called ‘vallars.’ Citizens could work to earn vallars, which came in denominations of V5, V10, V20, and V25. They, in turn, could use the vallars to buy and sell soap, oil, coal, food, furniture, and even means at a restaurant. A preview of today’s un-backed dollars? Doctors took vallars for treatment, and even a music company took 40 vallars for a piano.
‘They created their own newspaper, the “Progressive Independent,” on which the masthead blared, “A New Economic System for Human Welfare. Man above Money.” Salt Lake banks cleared the new money, and by the end of 1932, some 10,000 people would be, somehow or other, in the vallar system. Salt Lake had a ‘daylight restaurant,’ because the local power company would not accept vallars, and the local participants in the vallar scheme had no electricity for lights.
‘Ventura California, Minneapolis, and Yellow Springs Ohio, plus others were all making some form of scrip. In Arizona, the states governor enforced a three-day bank holiday, and all banks were closed. The Arizona legislature, by special act, ordered a state scrip, to be issued in denominations of up to $20. Three million were printed by special act, but they were never used. Anyone out there have an old vallar? The Nogales Herald issued its own bills, and Mexican pesos began to trade at a premium for a brief time.
“Obscure non-profits and citizen’s groups, towns, and businesses were all creating money. The Business Men’s Club in Oak Hills West Virginia issued coins, and the Lane Bryant store in Indianapolis issued money as did the state of Washington, the Port Authority of New York, and even the village of Chatham New York issued scrip. Scrip was springing up everywhere, and a “Mutual Exchange” outfit was formed, which created labor tokens for trading among other exchanges for worker. They came, and were paid 134 bushels of apples for a construction job, some of which were sold for credits, and some were converted into jelly. The barter system kept growing, and by the spring of 1932, there were 150 barter and work for scrip systems going in 30 states. Tens of thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands used barter for money. Within a couple of years, the obvious was realized, that they were basically useless, even tough they did work sometimes, and by then U.S. silver and gold coinage was available, made of real precious metals, so all the scrip faded away.”
P.S. Will the basically worthless Bit coins and others now appearing, go the way of vallars?
Don Stott- Don@coloradogold.com