bank holiday

     A "bank holiday", during the depression of the 1930's, meant the closing of a bank, even though it was supposed to be open for business. The government gave the banks permission to close in this way more than once. They feared a "run" on  the bank--the same kind of "run" on a bank you can see in It's A Wonderful Life. Scenes like the one portrayed in the movie really happened. People heard that banks had failed, and what they heard was true. They wanted to get all of their money out of their own bank, in case it should fail, too. Everyone wanting money at the same time, as we see in the movie, could make the bank fail. Since all of the money was not available in cash, the bank would be unable to meet its obligations, and might fail, permanently. The bank holidays were meant to give the banks a chance to accumulate more cash, and the public a chance to calm down. There was no government insurance for bank deposits then. The FDIC--Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation--was a product of the depression. When people lost their money in a bank failure in the 1930's, it was lost forever.