It was a sleepy afternoon in July of 1926.

Things were moving slowly in the American Railway Express office in Austin, Texas.

The summer shifts were always like this.

Quiet, slow, and hot.

People would come in to send and receive packages and run basic errands.

But today, nothing much was going on.

That is, until a certain customer walked in.

The agent in the office, E.I. Bodele, was tending to some business when he saw the customer

walk in.

The customer looked official enough.

He wore a suit and a hat, and he waited patiently for service.

When Bodele was available, he called the customer over.

Bodele asked how he could help.

The customer wanted to buy Traveler's checks.

Traveler's checks have fallen out of use, but before pre-paid debit cards and credit cards,

they were a popular way to ensure that you had money while traveling abroad.

They came in a variety of currencies.

It could be exchanged for cash and had no expiration date.

So to keep them secure, the checks had to be signed twice, once at the point of purchase,

and once again, when using them to buy something.

Bodele watched the customer sign.

He asked what the customer's name was.

...