October 1, 1958: The American Express Card Is Launched

October 1, 1958: The American Express Card is launched. This is why, in every print ad campaign, the "Member Since" date on the cards shown is "58."

The name on the cards in print ads is "C F FROST," in honor of Charles Frost, advertising executive at Ogilvy & Mather, the company that began the "Do you know me?"/"Don't leave home without it" ad campaign in 1975.

American Express had introduced the concept of the traveler's cheque (not "check") in 1891. From 1975 to 1995, actor Karl Malden did commercials for American Express Traveler's Cheques: He asked, in the event that your cash or credit cards were stolen, "What will you do? What will you do?" And he closed the ads by saying, "American Express Traveler's Cheques: Don't leave home without them!"

At around the same time, AmEx hired celebrities who might not be recognized out of costume or out of makeup, asking, "Do you know me?" The ads would close with a joke based on their identity, their name being printed on the card, an announcer saying, "To apply for the card, look for this display wherever the card is welcomed," and the celebrity delivering the tagline: "The American Express Card: Don't leave home without it!"

Diners Club had introduced the concept of the credit card in 1950, but American Express made the concept take off.

A few days earlier, on September 18, 1958, Bank of America launched BankAmericard. But their rollout flopped, though it turned a profit in 1961. By the 1970s, it surpassed American Express as the most-used credit card.

In 1969, Interbank introduced the MasterCharge card. This allowed lots of people to pay their BankAmericard bill with their MasterCharge, and their MasterCharge with their BankAmericard, a process that got them even deeper into debut, and was later outlawed with the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009.

On March 1, 1977, BoA, consolidating its operations, changed the name of the card to Visa, to make it easier to use worldwide. On August 28, 1979, MasterCharge was renamed MasterCard.

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October 1, 1958 was a Wednesday. There was only 1 score on this historic day, and it was in Game 1 of the World Series. The Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bill Bruton singled Joe Adcock home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, off Ryne Duren in relief of Whitey Ford -- who didn't allow another run in Series play until 1962. Warren Spahn went the distance for the win. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4 with a walk. Bill "Moose" Skowron and Hank Bauer hit home runs for the Yankees. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.