It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.

It is a very long time ago in a farming town. Andrew, Ben, and Charlie are farmers who live on the same road, who all know and trust each other. Ben has a problem with his tractor one day, and happens to mention it to Andrew. Andrew offers to check it out — he’s fixed his own tractor many times and might be able to help Ben out. They go over to Ben’s house, and sure enough, the fuel filter is clogged up. Being on a farm, Andrew is resourceful enough to be able to clean it out. When he puts everything back together, the tractor fires up right away.

“Thanks Andrew!”, Ben says. “Let me tell you what. If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have been able to properly harvest my wheat. When the harvest comes this fall, I’m going to give you 10 extra bushels of wheat. Let me give you a note so that I don’t forget.”

Next week, Charlie is over at Andrew’s farm for a visit. They’re walking around together, talking about their respective farms, and wondering if anyone will ever invent Genetic Engineering to help improve crop yields (since it is a very long time ago). It is a sunny day, and Andrew notices Charlie’s hat. “Darn, Charlie. That is a very nice hat.”

“Thanks Andrew. I made it myself. Took a while, but it’s really nice to keep the sun out of my eyes.”

“I could use a hat myself, but I’m so busy with my farm, I just don’t have the time. Say, you could use some extra wheat, right?”

“Yeah, like everyone else in town, we love to bake bread, and could always use some extra wheat. Why do you ask?”

Andrew explains to Charlie how he had fixed Ben’s tractor, and as a token of appreciation, Ben promised to give Andrew 10 bushels of wheat. “Look Charlie, we both know Ben is a great farmer, and a stand up guy. He’ll definitely harvest enough wheat that there will be 10 extra bushels. He wrote his promise down on this note so that we wouldn’t forget. What if I give you the note, and when fall comes, we’ll have Ben give you the 10 bushels of wheat instead? Would you make me a hat now?”

Charlie agrees, and Andrew hands over Ben’s note. So that everyone is clear on what happened, Andrew writes an explanation on the back of the note, and signs his name as proof that it is official.

Ben is a social guy around town, and especially proud of his new hat, is out quite often. As farmers do, they talk about their farms, and occasionally people offer Ben advice or help. Being a nice guy, he often offers bushels of wheat as thanks to people who help him. He always comes through with the wheat, and does it so often that everyone in town has heard of this practice.

It becomes so common that when other townsfolk want to show each other appreciation for a favor done, they will sometimes give the other person one of Ben’s notes, which by now fill their pockets. When fall comes, everyone meets at Ben’s farm to say hello, and cash in their notes, which by now have gotten their own slang — they are called Benjamins. After receiving their share of the bushels, the townsfolk go directly home and start baking bread — a day that after many years becomes known as “dough day”. For the rest of the season, their town always smells like fresh baking bread.