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Trivia question: How did the Tom Tom Room in The Vault restaurant get its name more than 50 years ago?
Published: 10/18/2012 12:05 PM
Last Modified: 10/18/2012 12:25 PM


The Vault owners Jeramy and Libby Auld cozy up in a 1950s-style ball chair in the restaurant's Tom Tom Room. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

If you attended Central High School, you probably have a clue how the Tom Tom Room in The Vault restaurant got its name more than 50 years ago.

As pointed out in my review of The Vault in today's Weekend section, the new restaurant is located in what originally was First National Autobank, built in 1959 by First National Bank and Trust Co.

According to Tulsa World newspaper files, the room, located on the second floor of the autobank, originally was to have a western theme, but R. Otis McClintock, bank board chairman, had another idea.

When the autobank was built, Central High School then was located directly across the street. McClintock said he came up with the Tom Tom Room name during a reunion of 1909 Central graduates.

When he attended Central, McClintock had been business manager of the school yearbook, the Tom Tom.

The bank allowed groups of 10 to 50 that didn't have a regular meeting place to use the room.

A 1963 article in the World noted that 236 groups had used the room in 1962.

Among those groups were the Red Shield Board, Estate Planning Forum, Boy Scout Executive Council, Advisory Board of Tulsa County Child Welfare, Camp Fire Girls, Travelers' Aid, Tulsa Area Safety Council, Arts Council of Tulsa and Military Order of World Wars.

A photo that accompanied the 1963 article showed chairs and tables similar to the ones owners Libby and Jeramy Auld put in The Vault's Tom Tom Room.

The restaurant occupies both the ground floor and second floor of the structure. The ground-floor dining room is more formal than the Tom Tom Room. The Aulds will rent the Tom Tom Room for private functions.

"The price will vary quite a bit depending on the time and day someone wants to rent it," Libby Auld said. "We've already had several functions there, including some by Central graduates, and we already have it booked a number of times through the holidays."

Other nuggets gleaned from the newspaper clippings:

A few days before the autobank opened, one of the largest movements of money in the city's history occurred when sacks of cash, which filled an entire storage van of the Mayflower Transit Co., were moved from bank headquarters to the autobank. The loading and unloading process took about four hours.

The autobank was designed by Tulsa architectural firm McCune, McCune and Associates and built by Tulsa Rig, Reel and Manufacturing Co.

The setting around the autobank that included bushes, trees and flowers was named McClintock Park by the bank, because, as bank vice president Jack D. Porter said, "to a great extent this is exactly what the autobank is -- a downtown park for Tulsa."

The opening-day article by World reporter Frank Leslie concluded with this statement: "The autobank opening Wednesday morning will set a new pace in drive-in banking for Tulsa, the entire Southwest -- even the nation."



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Table Talk

Tulsa World restaurant critic Scott Cherry is in his second tour of duty with the Tulsa World. He was a sports writer during his first stop, covering college football and basketball. Since returning to the World in 1992, he has been the food writer and now restaurant critic and wine columnist.

Cherry Picks, the Tulsa World restaurant guide, is where you can best see all of his reviews, formatted for your phone, tablet or desktop computer. Check it out at tulsaworld.com/cherrypicks.

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