A Century of Travel Ads and Inspiration From American Express

American Express Travel is celebrating their centennial milestone in the month of July with a handful of special promotions and marketing campaigns. For Skift, though, the centennial was a chance to look at old brochures, posters, and advertisements from the first 50 years of American Express, when traveling could still be exotic, was often challenging, and usually involved letters and travelers cheques. Travelers cheques were American Express' first product, allowing people who were traveling in foreign countries to purchase goods and services without worrying about carrying large amounts of their home currency. In the days before ATMs and international wires, cheques were an essential element of any traveler's trip. The demand gre