1936 Berwick PA Sesquicentennial Wooden Dime American Car & Foundry Company. A wooden nickel is a wooden token coin or flat note, usually issued by a merchant or bank as a promotion, sometimes redeemable for a specific item such as a drink. Scrip and tokens have often been issued locally in times of severe economic distress such as financial crises and the Civil War. During the Great Depression, after the failure of the Citizens Bank of Tenino in Tenino, Washington, the local Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the local newspaper to issue scrip equivalent to 25% of people's bank deposits that could be spent at local merchants. Blaine, Washington, soon did the same with both flat scrip and, in response to requests generated by news and word of mouth, coins that included a 5-cent piece. The Chicago World's Fair in 1933 issued wooden nickels as souvenirs, and the tradition of wooden nickels as tokens and souvenirs continues to the present day.