Let me give you these wooden dollars which are worth $25 each! You'll probably have to travel a bit to get there; there being Tenino, Washington, Pop. 2,000 located 60 m SW of Seattle. Ah Seattle - home of the fist CHOP Nation. Deaths as of end of June, three.
Tenino accepts no US cash. The wooden slightly-smaller looking than a US dollar, is worth $25 which is the only level offered. If you buy something for $24 not the $25 of this petite plank, the max in change you can get is 99 cents. If you're getting ready to leave town and want to get gas? You can't trade in any leftover town scrip for US currency. If the Tenino gas station is empty, better hope the hotel hasn't sold all of their rooms.
Originally $2,000 was given to town residents but various donations have bumped that up to $16,000 per person!
The local bank now effectively owns the town. They and they alone will turn wood into paper which can presumably be spent anywhere. Except Tenino) outside the city limits. They're the only place to borrow money. Bring a wheelbarrow for the cash.
This is reflective of The Robber Barons or the Gilded Age when one million dollars meant something! Industries such as logging or mining profited their owners or Chairmens of the Board with the origins of The Company Town. Workers slept in company houses, handed out to them. The only places to shop for food and goods were at The Company Store. You may remember "You load 16 tons and whatta you got? Another day older and deeper in debt. I owe my soul to The Company Store." courtesy Tennessee Ernie
This scrip by the way is no good for purchase of alcohol tobacco or marijuana. Kind of dims any desire to go there; right?
Tennessee Ernie Ford was onto something. Move.
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