10/23/2026
: The Story of the Brazil Exchange, 1949–1978
One of the more unusual PX locations in Exchange history was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where a small PX opened in late 1949 to support the Joint Brazil-U.S. Military Commission (JBUSMC).
The store also served as Exchange and commissary for other U.S. military advisory groups working in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, as well as Brazil-based U.S. State Department, U.S. Information Service and Central Intelligence Agency employees.
The PX’s challenges included frequent power outages and outdoor temperatures as high as 106 degrees in December, Brazil’s summer. Meat needed to be bought in advance in the early ’60s, because at the time it was rationed and not available on Mondays or Tuesdays.
One of the most popular items was soy milk, which was originally stocked for a few American children who were allergic to dairy milk. The allergy turned out to be common among Brazilian babies, so when parents with sick babies in Rio heard about the PX’s stock, arrangements were made for the State Department to provide the soy milk to those Brazilians.
In 1966, the stock assortment was expanded to offer customers a wider variety of U.S. retail and food items. The PX also had a butcher shop (pictured above)—believed to be the only one in the Exchange system at the time.
According to a 1969 Exchange Post story, the Brazil Exchange team included only two Americans. The rest of the 45-member workforce included Brazilians, but the majority of associates were immigrants from Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, England, Germany, Russia, India, China, Egypt, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The Rio de Janeiro Exchange closed in March 1978. Although the Exchange has since supported humanitarian missions in South America, the Rio Exchange was the last brick-and-mortar PX in South America. The closest Exchange to Rio today is the Fort Buchanan Exchange, more than 3,200 miles away in Puerto Rico.
SOURCES: Exchange Post archives, “One Hundred Years of Service: A History of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service” by Col. Carol Habgood, U.S. Air Force (retired) and Lt. Col. Marcia Skaer, Air Force
