Edgar Brown had made ~$100k from selling his theater chain and became a City Bank customer after seeing a magazine advertisement. His goal was financial safety over quick gain, but an employee of City’s investment affiliate convinced him to borrow money and sold him foreign securities and stocks like Anaconda Copper and City Bank.
On Oct. 4, 1929, Brown noticed the market declining and went to a local branch to sell his entire portfolio. But he was “surrounded at once by all the salesmen in the place,” Brown testified, and strong-armed into keeping his securities.