Lots of talk about getting letters at the American Express Co., and I was curious about how this worked:

The American Express Company, in addition to financial services, used to operate a travel agency and had offices in many cities around the world, especially in major tourist destinations. Travelers could make arrangements to have their mail forwarded to these offices while they were on the road.

This would typically involve planning ahead, with the travelers giving their friends, family, or business associates an itinerary of where they expected to be and when. Letters would then be sent to the American Express office in the expected city with the recipient’s name and the expected arrival date. The office would hold onto the mail until the traveler arrived and picked it up.

This method required careful planning and wasn’t perfect; if the travelers changed their plans or the mail was delayed, they might miss a letter. But for many people, this was the best option for staying in touch while traveling internationally during a time when other forms of communication, like international phone calls, were much less reliable and more expensive.