When was the last time you wrote a check?

In 1954, the answer was “this week,” “last week” or “just now.” 

The only other way at the time to pay your bills or for goods and services was cash – credit cards, something we’ll discuss in the weeks ahead, were not yet in vogue.

As a kid, I was fascinated by check writing. One time, when my Dad fixed a toy of mine, my mother gave me an old blank check that I wrote out to pay him – he had that check into the 21st century.

But the last check I remember writing was at the beginning of last month. The town where I live penalizes homeowners with a surcharge for electronic payments. And given that I pay enough for its lousy delivery of services, I wrote a check and schlepped to Town Hall to put it in a box for property tax collection.

The fact is the way we pay bills today would be a wonder to adults of 1954. On a computer. On your phone. Using Zelle or some other surrogate service. Instantly.

Banks want it that way. Checks are more expensive to process than electronic payments – wading through all that paper is extremely costly just by itself. So they’ve encouraged us to bag the check and find another way to pay.

I don’t especially miss check writing, despite my early interest in it. I’ll describe one reason next Tuesday.