Fascinating
facts about the invention
of
Travelers Cheques by Marcellus F. Berry in 1891. |
TRAVELERS
CHEQUES |
|
| James C. Fargo,
president of the American Express Company, was well off and well known.
It’s not surprising that he felt insulted when he couldn't get checks
cashed during a trip to Europe in 1890. But the European bankers were
steadfast. Fargo was not known to them. So they would not cash his
checks. Was an American always going to have a cash problem when
traveling in Europe? |
 |
| An
employee of the American Express Company, Marcellus F. Berry, set out to
find a solution. He wrote later: "There’s one thing every person does in
a distinctive way. That is writing his signature. Therefore the
foolproof device for taking money to strange places must carry the
signature of the bearer. It must declare that it will be cashed only
when a second, and matching, signature is added before witnesses." On
July 7, 1891, Berry was granted four copyrights for what he called "the
travelers cheque," and William Fargo, James Fargo’s son, got the first
one. He had no difficulty when he wanted fifty dollars a few weeks later
in Leipzig, Germany. In 1891, American Express sold $9,120.00 worth of
travelers checks, and the amount has risen every year. During 2000, sales of American Express Travelers Cheques increased to $24.6
billion. |
|
TO LEARN MORE
ON THE BOOKSHELF:
Why Didn't I Think of That?:
Bizarre Origins of Ingenious Inventions We
Couldn't Live Without
by Allyn Freeman, Bob Golden / Paperback - 260 pages / John Wiley & Sons;
(September 1997)
Filled with wacky and fascinating facts, awe-inspiring success statistics,
and rags-to-riches stories, Chronicles the odd origins behind 50 famous
inventions and reveals the business side of each product's actual
production, marketing, and distribution.
Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West
by Philip L. Fradkin, J. S. HollidayHardcover: 250 pages / Simon & Schuster; (February
2002)
Stagecoach reminds us of the far more complex and colorful history of the 150-year-old
enterprise it symbolizes, beginning with its heyday as an unpolished but honorable
"express company" that dependably linked, by means of the stagecoach, an upstart
West Coast and roughshod Rockies with everything else back East.
Why Didn't I Think of That ( This title is out of print.
)
by Webb Garrison / Hardcover - 120 pages (1977) / Prentice Hall / ISBN:
0139586032
ON THE WEB:
American
Express Company Annual Report
During 2000, sales of American Express Travelers Cheques increased to $24.6 billion,
(URL: www.onlineproxy.com/amex/2001/ar/sh_bus_tc.html)
Company History
In 1850 Henry Wells and William George Fargo co-founded a new company called
American Express with Mr Wells as President and Mr Fargo as Vice President. The
Company’s business was freight and financing.
(URL: home3.americanexpress.com/corp/our_story.asp)
Travelers Cheques
The official American Express Web site. No history available.
(URL: www.americanexpress.com)
|
| Reference
Sources in BOLD Type |
This
page revised February, 2005. |
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