19. The 1962 edition endorsed American Express Travelers checks in its opening editorial
The 1962 edition of the Green Book opened with an editorial which discussed the dangers of the age and the Cold War, and the appeal of travel as a means of handling stress. It called vacations mandatory as a means of therapy, and it also recommended travel as a way of broadening the mind and improving communications between the nations of the world. From that lofty position it recommended the meticulous planning of vacations, and the necessity of carrying lots of money, which it claimed would best be in the form of American Express Travelers Checks. It also mentioned favorably the American Express World-Wide Credit Card system.
The Green Book of 1962 suggested vacations in Mexico, Canada, and Europe, as well as to the Caribbean Islands. It also suggested the then relatively new cruise lines which it could accommodate through its own travel agency. The idea of a domestic family vacation via automobile on the under construction Interstate Highway System wasn’t even mentioned in the discourse on vacations, with the entire focus being on travelers’ leaving the United States for foreign locales. It closed with another description of New York City, which it called “perhaps the greatest port in the world and the financial, intellectual, and artistic center of the Nation (sic).