Scope

There are 4 series of records in Advertising Department, containing a total of 44 records. The date range of the records covers the period 1912–1959. Details regarding the series are as follows:

Early development

Following the opening of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 1912, the administrative functions were conducted by a small group of senior officers under the ultimate control and management of the Bank’s first Governor, Denison Miller. Initially, there was no clearly defined departmental structure; rather, responsibilities tended to evolve around an officer or a function. Miller was keen to establish the new Bank quickly and to expand its reach to all areas of Australia. To do this, he needed to promote the Bank and its services to the public.

Establishment of an Advertising Department

Established in 1913, the Advertising Department was one of only a few departments founded within a year of the Bank’s opening. (Others included the Actuary’s Department in 1912 and the Bank’s London Office in 1913.) The Head of the Department was called the Advertising Manager, a senior role within the Bank.

The Department’s early launch reflected the importance placed on advertising to promote the newly created Commonwealth Bank, as well as its Savings Bank Department (from 1928 the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia), its branches and agencies.

By 1913, the Bank had opened branches in the capital cities of Australia, in London and in Townsville, and further branches and agencies were established in the years that followed. At each opening, the Advertising Department created promotional material about the banking services on offer and designed and printed banking forms for use in the branch. It designed posters and other display material for shows, parades, and carnivals. The Department supplied and distributed this material, along with forms, stationery items and stores across the Bank’s departments, branches, and agencies, with the manager of the Department also the Controller of Stores and Stationery. (This function would later be transferred to the Flinders Street Branch (Melbourne) of the Bank in 1921, and then to a dedicated Stores Department based in Sydney in 1932).

Expansion of the Department during the World Wars

During the First World War, the Department’s focus turned outward. It assisted the Commonwealth Government in a variety of ways, including by providing posters, stationery, notices, brochures, leaflets, slogans, and pamphlets relating to War Loans (including the Liberty Loans offered by the Bank on behalf of the Commonwealth). Under instruction from the Commonwealth Treasurer, the Department was also responsible for booking space and inserting advertisements in newspapers, publicising the loans on the radio and later through films, and for producing literature about the loans. Bank buildings were decorated with banners, many of which were designed by the Department. These advertising tools ensured the success of wartime loan raising across Australia. Some of the Bank’s female staff were employed in the Department to assist in the war effort, including as typists and typesetters.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Department once again played a leading role in publicising the government’s campaigns to raise money for the war effort, through the design, production and distribution of advertising material, banners, and posters, displayed in all branches and the Bank’s Head Office. The campaigns saw all public loans oversubscribed. When peace came, the Department promoted Peace Loans and, through savings and prudence campaigns, the general prosperity of the Australian people.

Bank Notes magazine

Another function of the Advertising Department was the production and printing of the Commonwealth Bank’s staff magazine – Bank Notes – from December 1918. The idea for a magazine was first mooted in June that year by the Bank’s then Accountant, and future Bank Secretary and Governor, Hugh Trail Armitage, and received the full support of Governor Denison Miller. The magazine was intended to provide staff at home and on service abroad with news of each other, and to be a ‘recorder of military and civilian life as affected by war’ (Bank Notes, Volume 6, Number 12, November 1924). Later, it developed into a magazine designed to be of service to Bank staff more generally. As well as staff news and sporting activities, it included Bank returns, banknotes on issue and balance sheets, to keep staff informed of the Bank’s progress.

The early magazines recorded visits to the Bank, including by the then Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) in 1920. It also documented the activities of the Governor and his senior staff, their trips abroad and speeches given while there and at home, with the magazine often used by the Governor and his Deputy to address staff directly on important issues.

The magazine was produced monthly until March 1937, after which it was changed to a quarterly publication, with the first quarterly issue released in June that year. The reason for this change was noted in the March 1937 issue:

‘The decision to convert “Bank Notes” from a monthly to a quarterly publication is the outcome of an earnest desire for the improvement which more leisurely production should ensure. It is hoped that the magazine, already popular in its present form, will prove of greater interest and educational value. As a quarterly publication it will present articles relative to Australian Life, Production, Industry and Affairs, and such staff activities as should prove of sustained and informative interest to its readers generally.’ (Bank Notes, Volume 19, Number 3, November 1937)

The magazine was edited by the Advertising Manager, with content from other senior staff. Bank Notes was published until December 1959. The new Commonwealth Banking Corporation (later Commonwealth Bank of Australia), which opened for business in January 1960, would continue the name Bank Notes for its new staff magazine.

Post-Second World War functions

In the years following the Second World War, the Advertising Department prepared some of the more formal documents required of the Bank, including account balances, departmental publications and research papers and volumes. By March 1954, it was responsible for printing all internal Bank circulars and circular memoranda, addressing envelopes, printing wrappers for the Bank’s Bulletin journal, printing ledger sheets, and compiling and printing staff cards. In addition, the Department produced special print runs for the Bank, including for a Salary Calculator, a Yearly Summary of Business booklet, posters, programs, notices for Welfare (Benevolent) functions and forms for the Staff Training College. It also produced booklets encouraging saving, with some especially conceived and designed for children, as a way of encouraging good habits from an early age.

In 1954, an Addressing Division was set up within the Advertising Department to centralise and streamline the heading and production of statements issued at regular intervals by state branches to customers. This relieved branch staff of the necessity to individually type and check Bank statements, which was a laborious and resource-intensive task.

Currency magazine

In 1951, the Bank introduced a monthly staff journal to run alongside the quarterly Bank Notes magazine. Staff were invited to submit names for the magazine and over 40 suggestions were received, with a shortlist of seven chosen: ‘Bank Interest’, ‘Banktalk’, ‘Contact’, ‘Exchanges’, Stafftalk’, ‘Talking Shop’ and ‘Currency’ (RBA Archives S-h51-71). On 16 July 1951, the Bank’s Governor Dr HC Coombs announced his decision that ‘… the name “Currency” is to be given to the Monthly Staff Magazine’ (RBA Archives S-h51-71).

As with Bank Notes, the new magazine was published by the Advertising Department. The Advertising Manager acted as both the Editor and the Chairman of a newly formed Editorial Committee of three staff, who reviewed and approved content, including for quality and consistency of style. Vibrant covers were introduced, and the pages of the magazine were decorated with cartoons and drawings, often of a comical nature. While content was expected to come from across the Bank, the Editor relied heavily on administrative departments and branches for news; as a result, departments, and state offices, each appointed a Currency representative, with the specific aim of gathering information and sending content to the Editor each month. An Assistant Editor was also appointed to support the Editor in this work. As with Bank Notes, the magazine was used from time to time by the Governor to speak directly to staff.

At the launch of the new magazine in 1951, Governor Coombs noted:

‘The interest and satisfaction which our job can give us are the greater if our understanding of the tasks and policies of the Bank is wide and thorough. Accordingly, to provide a stimulus and a channel for our officers’ pride and satisfaction in their profession, the Bank has decided to issue this new Magazine. Its aim will be to keep you better informed on all aspects of the Bank’s work and of life within the Bank. We hope it will help you to see how your job fits into the work of the rest and how the joint effort makes the Bank a vital unit in the national economy.’ (Currency magazine, Volume 1, Number 1, 1 June 1951)

In the second issue, the Editor and Advertising Manager, John Clayton noted that the magazine was to be ‘the means … of ironing out problems associated with your job to the betterment of life within the service’. He encouraged staff to ‘… share your ideas, and your problems, with your fellow officers through the columns of your magazine, and help the Editorial Committee make it what you want it to be’ (Currency magazine, Volume 1, Number 2, 1 July 1951).

Amongst the featured stories in the new magazine were sporting accomplishments, news of travels, staff appointments, resignations, and retirements, births, deaths and marriages. Interesting short stories and helpful hints also appeared, many written by staff.

Advertising Managers

From 1913, the managers of the Advertising Department included:

• Charles Davidson Paterson, the Department’s first manager, joined the Bank on 1 December 1912 and assumed duties as manager on 1 June 1913. He resigned from the role at the end of the First World War in 1919. At the time of his departure, Bank Notes magazine noted: ‘The advertising and stationery department of Head Office sustained a severe loss in the resignation of their popular chief Mr CD Paterson on 31 July 1919. Mr Paterson has served the Bank for six years as advertising manager and controller of stores and stationery’ (Bank Notes, Volume 1, Number 9, August 1919)
• Eric Napier Birks succeeded Paterson in 1919 but resigned in 1920, after only one year in the role. 
• Vermont Ferdinand Mitchell became the next manager of the Department, but also resigned after only one year.
• Thomas Frederick Sullivan was appointed manager in 1921 and remained in the role until 1946, with the role of Editor of Bank Note magazine added to the position during this time.
• John Vincent Clayton was appointed Advertising Manager in 1947 and took on the added role of Editor of Currency magazine when it was launched in 1951.

Vernon Lorimer

One of the best known and most talented artists employed by the Department was Vernon Lorimer, whose career with the Bank spanned the years 1923–1953. Lorimer was born on 1 September 1888 and was a Melbourne-trained cartoonist, illustrator, and commercial artist. He was also an accomplished landscape painter in oils and watercolours.

Lorimer was first engaged by the Bank in 1923 as a freelance commercial artist based in the Advertising Department. During these early years, he designed and produced much of the Bank’s advertising material. During the First World War, the Bank’s focus had been on raising money for the war effort and for post-war reconstruction on behalf of the Commonwealth Government. In part due to the success of these early campaigns, and the goodwill they generated amongst the public, the Bank used advertising and promotional events to increase its customer base and encourage post-war saving.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, and in a bid to assist the war effort, Lorimer agreed to join the staff as a full-time employee. He entered the Bank’s service on 3 May 1943, as Assistant to the Officer in Charge of Military Allotments. Military Allotments related to amounts of money transferred from the pay packets of those fighting abroad to nominated people back home. To set up these debits, the account holder filled in a form stating the amount to be transferred on a regular basis. As well as designing forms for this purpose, Lorimer developed material to encourage the public to lend money for the war effort. ‘You Lend … We’ll Defend’ and ‘In Defence of Freedom’ were two of Lorimer’s slogans that featured on posters.

In March 1945, Lorimer was transferred to the Bank’s Advertising Department on a full-time basis. He supported the Bank through the design of advertising material, including blotters, bookmarks, booklets, leaflets and posters, all reminding the public that ‘Savings light the way to future security’. Customers were cautioned ‘Don’t be a failure at forty’ because you haven’t saved for the future. Parents were asked to ‘Teach them to save’ and ‘Teach them the savings habit’, with children encouraged through piggy banks and other promotional means. ‘People who save get what they want’ was also a popular theme. Booklets, stories, morality tales, posters and other forms of advertising were devised to reach all generations. Lorimer designed covers and artwork for the Bank’s staff magazines, and for the Bank’s social events, including menus, cards, and invitations. Lorimer also created recruitment posters and material to attract staff to the Bank.

Lorimer remained in the Advertising Department until 1 September 1953, when he retired aged 65. He died on 15 March 1978. Some of his original artwork, designs and printed materials relating to his work in the Bank are held by the RBA Archives and can be viewed on request. Please note that access to physical records may only be provided by the Bank’s archivists on-site.

Separation

In January 1960, the central and commercial banking functions of the original Commonwealth Bank were separated. The functions of the Advertising Department were transferred to a new department – the Establishment Department of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The Commonwealth Banking Corporation (later the Commonwealth Bank of Australia) retained the name Bank Notes for its staff magazine, with Volume 1, Number 1 produced in February 1960. The Reserve Bank, as the successor in law to the original Commonwealth Bank, continued to produce and publish Currency as its staff magazine, with the first issue released in March 1960. The magazine continues to be published as the Bank’s in-house staff magazine to this day.

Advertising Department is represented by the National Archives of Australia series: C5730: Commonwealth Bank Departments. The records are identified by an AD (for ‘Advertising Department’) prefix. Records include advertising books, advertising and recruitment posters and copies of Bank Notes and Currency staff magazines. The records date from 1912-1959.