Was ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Inspired by Iowa Family Named Bailey?

The American Film Institute calls 'It's a Wonderful Life' the most inspiring film of all time. You probably know that one of the stars of the 1946 classic is Iowa native Donna Reed, born in Denison. However, that's not where Iowa's connections to the film end.

As George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, struggles emotionally throughout the streets of Bedford Falls, a snowstorm rages.

According to the American Film Institute, it was the "biggest snowstorm in the history of movies (at the time)." The "snow" in 'It's a Wonderful Life' had never been used in a movie before, and replaced common cornflakes, painted white, that had been used previously. One of the ingredients in that theatrical snowstorm was gypsum, mined in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Is it possible that a family in a small town in west central Iowa was the inspiration behind 'It's a Wonderful Life'?

Correctionville, Iowa was home to more than 1,100 people in the 1940s, the largest population in the city's 150-year history.

According to the Dakota Scout, in the years preceding the movie, Correctionville was home to a pair of high-end jewelry stores, an opera house, a ladies hat store, and even a boardwalk, and gas-lit lanterns. It also had a husband and wife named George and Mary Bailey.

George Bailey was one of the founders of Sioux Valley State Bank. It would later be named "Bailey State Bank". The bank closed for a time just before Christmas in 1930,  however, a bank remains in that location to this day.

FNB Bank in Correctionville was once Bailey State Bank.

The Bailey's had two children and built a late Victorian/Queen Anne home at 423 10th Street in Correctionville in 1883. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 1998.

*The George Bailey House in Correctionville was the first home in the community to have electricity.

Below is the home in 2021.

According to the National Register of Historic Places application, George Bailey "was one of the best-known and best-loved men of Correctionville. He lived here for many years, and many people can testify to acts of kindness that he had done and the helping hand he had extended to them, or their forebears." George was also instrumental in the town getting both electricity and city water, with his home being the first in the city to have electricity. George Bailey was the president of Bailey State Bank and was in the banking industry for 61 years until he passed away in 1928.

The National Register of Historic Places application describes Mary as "the center of all social life and activity in Correctionville for many years."

Seneca Falls, New York believes their city is what Bedford Falls was modeled after. They host an It's Wonderful Life Festival each year.

I'll let New York have the town, and Iowa have the family. For me, I love the Iowa connection and the possibility that maybe, just maybe 'It's a Wonderful Life' was inspired by a small town Iowa family... one that had many of the attributes of the family in the movie, right down to the names George and Mary Bailey.