I was surprised so many people responded to the affirmative. I think those that responded were more likely to have received a telegram some time in their life, as I have.
…which is a reason I started the thread! [:)]
No more Western Union [:O]. Now how am I going to get my bail money sent to me the next time I land in jail?[banghead]
Don’t wind up going to jail,and no one will have to do something like that
to get you out !!![:D][}:)][:P][:0]
There is indeed a period in American Morse, it is …–… and it would also take more to send the word stop than a period.
As far as confusion over dots and dashes and periods, this was not a problem because the dots and dashes where heard and not seen. Think about any old movie where you have seen a telegrapher listening to the clicking of the telegraph sounder. A dot would sound like clickclack, and a dash would sound like click clack.
I have never heard of the explanation that the word “stop” was sent for free. The best explanation that I have heard for “stop” being used is from a booklet published in 1928, entitled “How To Write Telegrams Properly”. Here is a quote from the booklet.
"This word “stop” may have perplexed you the first time you encountered it in a message. Use of this word in telegraphic communications was greatly increased during the World War, when the Government employed it widely as a precaution against having messages garbled or misunderstood, as a result of the misplacement or emission of the tiny dot or period.
Officials felt that the vital orders of the Government must be definite and clear cut, and they therefore used not only the word “stop,” to indicate a period, but also adopted the practice of spelling out “comma,” “colon,” and “semi-colon.” The word “query” often was used to indicate a question mark. Of all these, however, "sto
Well it’s not like I set out to end up in jail, but sometimes s#$@ happens.[;)]
Don’t worry, they still do money transfers.[:)] They just quit the telegram part of their business.[:(]
…Interesting…I lived in small town America and heard with my own ears the telegraph sounder and incoming messages in local {B&O}, depot on the coal hauling branch of the Someset & Cambria…A trangular shaped box on a vertical support…as I remember it…Quite a few years ago…And that very depot is now completely renovated and located {about a mile from the railroad}, on the American Legon grounds in our home town in Pennsylvania…
Good. I have never sent or received a telegram and can’t say I’ve known of anyone that did, but I have done money transfers on many occasions.
One reason that kept the telegram alive was that companies used them when they wished to establish communications as a matter of record. For example, the one time I received a telegram was when a company wanted to set a meeting with me.
Mook: [(-D] I love it, I wish I could turn mine off but then I would not have a job any longer, something about 24/7. Richard
I last received and sent telegrams over 30 years ago. I don’t think WU was much interested in offering them once they brought in the “Mailgram” in the early 1970s. That involved printing telegrams “en masse” and putting them in the mail at the closest office nearest recipient(s). I think corporations used them to put out word of cancelled meetings and things like that; easier than making hundreds of last-minute phone calls! But of course the TWX and the fax put an end to those long before the Internet got going.
BTW - about ten years ago a telephone switching station in Hinsdale, suburban Chicago, had a catastropic failure and put a large percentage of DuPage County out of phone service. People tried to send telegrams – uh uhh! WU had long since been using phone company lines, not their own.
I’m really surprised “old yeller” survived this long; I had thought telegrams ceased to exist 15 or 20 years ago.
The first class postal letter is on the endangered species as internet use becomes more widespread. Yes, some passenger trains could be next.
“listening to the Seth Thomas” when all was quiet…I have one of the regulator clocks on the wall in this home office…working too…and another out in the family room…working, and one stored away and it works too…{supposedly, that one really was in a depot at one time}…
Saw telegrams being used in WWII…as was a lot of the stuff mentioned above by SDR…
I’m suprised I thought they ended that side of their business years ago. Then again it does seem kind of ridiculous to use a telgraph despite the glaring fact you can call someone on say the telephone.
…Or hit the keyboard at home and put a message to another location almost instantly now with our computers and min. cost…
Telegrams lasted partly because the contents became a matter of record. If I agree to order 10,000 widgets at $5 by e-mail, there’s no proof of transmission if there’s a disagreement. By telegraph, however, there is proof, namely in WU’s files.
How about the confirmation number that is sent back from the “Widget” mfg. to confirm the order…Isn’t that a measure of proof…
Telegrams were often an “official” notice to employees, especially in a return to work situation.
I worked for Western Union and the aircraft engine plants would have literally thousands of telegrams sent at once to bring huge numbers back to work on short notice. Similar stories for other industries.
The mailgram was an attempt to provide the speed of electronic movement of the message between cities and physical delivery by the Post Office. In many cases there were printers right in the Post Office where the messages would be printed out and put into the local mailstream.
Another service Western Union provided was messenger service and I sometimes think they made more money on it than delivering telegrams. Now in cities there are companies which provide messenger service for movement of items from office to office quickly. Western Union did this for years.
How were telegrams “routed”? Did they go through “Hubs” and get resent?
How would a telegram from say, Manito, IL to Elsinore, CA be routed to the right location given there was no direct pole line?
A confirmation could be disputed by the original sender. A firm such as WU provides third party verification in case a dispute arises over the content of the original message. There is a way to ensure confirmation in the e-mail age and that is to use public key encryption such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) on the original. For the vast majority of communications, however, using PGP is still a bit too involved.