Behind the T-shirt: Tillie the All Time Teller

Florida National Banks' Tillie says, "I'll make your life easier."

Who is Tillie?

She's the ATM.

photo via Wells Fargo

(via Wells Fargo History Blog: Tillie the All Time Teller)

First National Bank of Atlanta  was concerned that the relatively new automated teller machine (ATM) it introduced in 1974 would appear cold and difficult to use.

In those days, customers were accustomed to walking inside a bank and chatting with a pleasant teller. So First National named their ATM “Tillie the All Time Teller,” and put the face of a smiling blonde girl on the front of the machine. “Tillie” looked inviting to customers and suggested that the machine was highly user-friendly.

 Did it work? In a word, yes. Tillie launched one of the most successful ATM systems in the banking industry.

This particular shirt says "GO GATORS" on the back. Yay unnecessary punctuation!

Available here from Etsy.  Here from Defunkd for a few dollars less!