(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.
History of the Thrift Movement in America - Primary Source Edition
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
Simon William Straus was an American banker and realty financier. He also wrote many articles for newspapers and magazines on thrift, and gave advice as to lending and borrowing on mortgages. Straus gave liberally of his time and money to philanthropy in both America and Europe.
Background
Simon was born on December 23, 1866 at Ligonier, Indiana, United States. He was the son of Frederick William and Madlon (Goldsmith) Straus. His father, a native of Rhenish Prussia, was the founder and head of the Citizens' Bank of Ligonier; later he went to Chicago and started a mortgage and loan business.
Education
Young Simon attended the public schools of Chicago and Hughes High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Career
In 1884 Straus entered his father's business in Chicago, which was then known as F. W. Straus & Company. In 1898, his father having retired, he assumed the presidency of the business, the name of which had been changed to S. W. Straus & Company. He continued as president until two years before his death, when he became chairman of the board.
As the business grew, branches began to be established in other cities, and in 1915 Straus removed his office and home to New York, the branch there having become the most important of the chain. He was a pioneer in promoting the building of skyscrapers and originated the idea of real estate bonds used to finance a building project, his company floating the first issue of that sort of paper in 1909.
Between that time and his death his company financed building by that method to the extent of more than a billion dollars, and did a huge business in the sale of mortgages and securities.
The Straus Company supplied money for some of the greatest office buildings, apartment buildings, and hotels in New York and Chicago, among them the Chrysler Building, New York, the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion, and the Chanin Building.
At the time of Straus's death, the company had branches in fifty cities. Its $4, 000, 000 building in New York boasted one of the handsomest banking rooms in America, while the Chicago office of the company was a thirty-two story building costing $12, 000, 000.
He took over and became the first president of the Ambassador hotels in New York and elsewhere. As early as 1927 he became aware that the saturation point in building in New York was near and urged caution, but was not heeded.
In 1920 he published History of the Thrift Movement in America. He became noted as a bitter opponent of tipping, but found after some years of effort that opposition was useless. Always eager to help the laborer and the middle-class employee, in 1928 he worked out and arranged to finance an employee-management plan for a large plumbing-fixture corporation in Chicago in the hope of bringing the idea of employee-management into the building industry.