Washington Mutual

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Washington Mutual traced its Seattle roots to September 25, 1889, when the Washington National Building Loan and Investment Association was organized in the aftermath of the Great Seattle Fire. It became Washington Savings and Loan Association in 1908 and Washington Mutual Savings Bank in 1917: a long, sensible name for an institution built around ordinary savers, mortgages, and Northwest thrift.

From Seattle, WaMu became a national consumer-banking force. Its 1990s acquisition run brought in American Savings, Great Western Financial, and H.F. Ahmanson & Co.; later deals included Bank United, Fleet Mortgage, Dime Bancorp, and Providian Financial. The friendly storefront style and red-and-white “WaMu” shorthand gave big-bank expansion a surprisingly neighborhood-ish costume.

The costume did not survive the mortgage crisis. On September 25, 2008, regulators closed Washington Mutual Bank and appointed the FDIC receiver. JPMorgan Chase acquired the bank’s operations, including deposits and most assets, in an FDIC-facilitated transaction for about $1.9 billion. The bank failure remains the largest in FDIC history by assets.

The parent, Washington Mutual, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 on September 26, 2008. It emerged from restructuring on March 19, 2012 as WMI Holdings Corp., leaving the Washington Mutual name behind in the corporate vault.

Our Washington Mutual collection celebrates Seattle thrift turned national banking colossus: branch-lobby optimism, mortgage-era ambition, and a logo that still looks ready to offer free checking with a side of existential dread.