thedrifter
12-05-08, 08:42 AM
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Curious about George's travels?
Bill Duncan
For the Capital Press
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Bandon, Ore., is one of my favorite coastal cities. It is also a favorite of many tourists, some of whom come from farther away than the few hours I have to drive. So what I am going to tell you shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. When I made a purchase I got a dollar bill in change that had traveled 685 miles in four days and 44 minutes.
How do I know this? The dollar bill I received had a rubber-stamped message asking me to trace its whereabouts. All I had to do was to call up the website www.wheresgeorge.com to discover that some guy named Ed who was headed for California picked up the bill from a Wells Fargo Bank in Coralville, Iowa, on Sept. 28, and it traveled with him and his wife, Tracey, to Coos Bay, Ore. From there it made its way to Bandon, where I received it as change when I purchased a book in Old Town Bandon.
I was familiar with the old World War II "Short Snorters" bills, which became a military tradition as a drinking game and a status symbol. The word "snort" was slang for a stiff drink and "short" for less than full measure. When servicemen were out drinking together, they would challenge each other to produce their Short Snorters, currency signed by other snorters. Anyone who failed to do so was obliged to buy a round of drinks.
Some of those bills became real collector's items because of the famous signatures on them, including one signed by Winston Churchill. The tradition more or less died out after the war, but it was revived in the 1960s when America entered the space age and astronauts carried into space $1 bills signed by their fellow crew members.
Until I got the Bandon bill, I had not heard of the "Where's George" website, but my reporter instinct made me investigate. I learned that the site has been in existence since Dec. 23, 1998. Thousands of dollars have been registered by individuals all over the country and are being traced on their monetary travels.
The free site allows enthusiasts to log and track U.S. currency bills by their serial numbers. Members of the site are called "Georgers," and they can get e-mail alerts on where the bill has been, if the latest holders of the bills update the site. However, there is no reference to how the bill was spent.
The program even has a "Friends of Where's George" club.
As an interesting side effect of this currency traveling project, researchers studying pandemics have used the tracking sites to plot human travel patterns, and used it recently in a study to find clues on how to combat the spread of diseases.
I recall a time during World War II when I was stationed with the Marines in a town where the townfolks complained about the Marines and sailors and even posted signs in the parks that said: "Sailors, dogs and Marines, keep off the grass." I never quite understood the animosity, especially why Marines were listed after dogs, but the military went into combat mode and paid its personnel, even the civilian workers, with cash - $2 bills. It didn't take long for the merchants to understand which side of their bread was buttered.
It would be interesting to know if George ever traced those $2 bills.
Bill Duncan can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 97470.
Ellie
Curious about George's travels?
Bill Duncan
For the Capital Press
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Bandon, Ore., is one of my favorite coastal cities. It is also a favorite of many tourists, some of whom come from farther away than the few hours I have to drive. So what I am going to tell you shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. When I made a purchase I got a dollar bill in change that had traveled 685 miles in four days and 44 minutes.
How do I know this? The dollar bill I received had a rubber-stamped message asking me to trace its whereabouts. All I had to do was to call up the website www.wheresgeorge.com to discover that some guy named Ed who was headed for California picked up the bill from a Wells Fargo Bank in Coralville, Iowa, on Sept. 28, and it traveled with him and his wife, Tracey, to Coos Bay, Ore. From there it made its way to Bandon, where I received it as change when I purchased a book in Old Town Bandon.
I was familiar with the old World War II "Short Snorters" bills, which became a military tradition as a drinking game and a status symbol. The word "snort" was slang for a stiff drink and "short" for less than full measure. When servicemen were out drinking together, they would challenge each other to produce their Short Snorters, currency signed by other snorters. Anyone who failed to do so was obliged to buy a round of drinks.
Some of those bills became real collector's items because of the famous signatures on them, including one signed by Winston Churchill. The tradition more or less died out after the war, but it was revived in the 1960s when America entered the space age and astronauts carried into space $1 bills signed by their fellow crew members.
Until I got the Bandon bill, I had not heard of the "Where's George" website, but my reporter instinct made me investigate. I learned that the site has been in existence since Dec. 23, 1998. Thousands of dollars have been registered by individuals all over the country and are being traced on their monetary travels.
The free site allows enthusiasts to log and track U.S. currency bills by their serial numbers. Members of the site are called "Georgers," and they can get e-mail alerts on where the bill has been, if the latest holders of the bills update the site. However, there is no reference to how the bill was spent.
The program even has a "Friends of Where's George" club.
As an interesting side effect of this currency traveling project, researchers studying pandemics have used the tracking sites to plot human travel patterns, and used it recently in a study to find clues on how to combat the spread of diseases.
I recall a time during World War II when I was stationed with the Marines in a town where the townfolks complained about the Marines and sailors and even posted signs in the parks that said: "Sailors, dogs and Marines, keep off the grass." I never quite understood the animosity, especially why Marines were listed after dogs, but the military went into combat mode and paid its personnel, even the civilian workers, with cash - $2 bills. It didn't take long for the merchants to understand which side of their bread was buttered.
It would be interesting to know if George ever traced those $2 bills.
Bill Duncan can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 97470.
Ellie