Prairie State Bank & Trust

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. On an unusually warm winter morning in Chicago, a Prairie State Bank & Trust teller noticed something peculiar. A regular customer, Mr. Johnson, entered the bank wearing nothing but a hat and gloves. As she approached him curiously, he calmly pulled out his checkbook and said, ‘It’s January, ma’am—my thermostat must be on vacation.’ The teller smiled, realizing it was another one of his quirky jokes.

2. On a particularly foggy autumn afternoon in Chicago, a Prairie State Bank & Trust teller noticed something peculiar: every time she looked up from her desk, a shadowy figure seemed to be standing just outside the glass door. One day, while counting coins, she caught the figure waving frantically. Turned out it was just an enthusiastic a delivery driver trying to signal that his package had arrived. Since then, whenever anyone mentions ghosts, the staff jokes that Prairie State Bank has its very own ‘express delivery service’.

3. At closing time one day, a Prairie State Bank & Trust teller asked a puzzled customer: ‘Did you know our vault is filled with nothing but old newspapers?’ The customer looked surprised and said, 'Really? And why on earth would you do that?' The teller smiled and replied, 'Well, it’s part of our tradition—we like to keep things interesting around here!' A few days later, an excited delivery driver approached the teller counter and whispered, 'I found some really old newspapers in my truck today.' Everyone laughed as they realized the joke had come full circle.

4. In a small town outside Chicago, a Prairie State Bank & Trust teller noticed something peculiar every time she counted the coins from the night deposit. The pile always seemed to grow slightly heavier—until one day, a curious child reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny bag of gummy bears. It turned out that a regular customer had been dropping off his change jar each week, thinking it was just loose coins. The teller smiled, knowing now why the weight never quite matched up perfectly. From then on, whenever anyone asked about the mysterious ‘extra’ coins, she’d wink and say, ‘Oh, those are Mr. Johnson’s gummy bear savings!’