gmw1@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) (09/19/89)
While we're on the subject of Western Union, here are a few questions about WU that I've had for quite a while. 1. When did WU take the manual telegraph out of operation and replace it with the teletypewriter? I've always been fond of the telegraph myself. I have an 1884 Western Union private line telegraph transmitter/receiver set among my collection of antique telephones. 2. It was mentioned that WU used telco lines. I was always led to believe that WU had their own lines. When did this practice end? Or did it? 3. Do telegrams and mailgrams have any modern commercial application with the advent of electronic mail, the overnight letter, fax, etc.? I have nothing against telegrams, and it would be a pity for such a thing to ever die out, but are they still used in major ways today? (other than the traditional sending of a telegram to a wedding when you're away) 4. Am I right to assume that the "public telegraph office" has more or less been replaced with the 800 Western Union phone number? When did this come to be? 5. What exactly is WU up to these days? I'm sure they're getting into long distance telephone like everyone else. Can anyone fill me in? Speaking of Western Union, you all might enjoy the quotation that I have in my signature. Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings gmw1@cunxid.cc.columbia.edu to be seriously considered as a means of gmw1@cunixc (bitnet) communication. The device is inherently of 72355.1226@compuserve.com no value to us." WUI:650-117-9118 - Western Union internal memo, 1877 [Moderator's Note: Regards your point (2) above, they had (still have) both, depending. Sometimes they even had wire pairs within a telco cable that were 'their' pairs and not telco's for use. It was a hodge podge of things. Western Union always had a very special status with the Bell System, and that included the rates given to WU for their phone service. Their lines always shared the same conduits inside buildings with Bell, even prior to the court ruling which said Bell had no right to make other folks vacate the conduit when they (Bell) caught them in there. Oddly enough, it was because they were allowing WU to use their conduits at will that the court said they could jolly well allow all sorts of commuications services in there. Likewise with house pairs; WU always took what they wanted. Regards your point (4), the public offices were pretty much phased out during the 1970's in favor of the 800 number. Then they began realizing there was money to be made in the business of money transfer, so they began cutting deals with banks and currency exchanges to function as Western Union agencies for the purpose of taking in/disbursing funds transferred around the country. But the currency exchange/agencies of today do NOT resemble the fabulous old public offices of a quarter century ago. In smaller towns, they sometimes worked through a telegraph agency rather than have their own office. That is, someone else owned the business and got a commission for handling traffic for WU. In small towns, the agent could never make a living from WU alone, so he did other things also. In Coffeyville, Kansas, and Hammond, Indiana, to name just two towns, circa 1940-45, the telegraph agency was in the bus depot; the agent sold Greyhound tickets (as well as the tickets for every other bus line which came through town) and operated the telegraph machines as well. The guy in Hammond had enough going on to keep a girl busy working the counter two shifts a day and a guy who was there all night. The telegraph machines (usually two or three of them) would chatter constantly in the background, and the phone was ringing constantly, 24 hours a day. Regards point (5), they now have a long distance service; they have public e-mail (EasyLink); they still 'do' telegrams; money transfer and sundry. PT]
edg@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Edward Greenberg) (09/21/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0387m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> gmw1@cunixd.cc.columbia. edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes: > 3. Do telegrams and mailgrams have any modern commercial application > with the advent of electronic mail, the overnight letter, fax, > etc.? I have nothing against telegrams, and it would be a pity > for such a thing to ever die out, but are they still used in major > ways today? (other than the traditional sending of a telegram to > a wedding when you're away) > My parents have a collection of telegrams received at their wedding. They're all addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Morton Greenberg; Park Manor; Eastern Parkway; Brooklyn, New York". They were delivered to the catering hall (the Park Manor) at the wedding. Most of them are done on special "Congratulations" telegram blanks, and they have the words printed on strips of paper glued to the blank. \ Now, my parents got married in 1954. When I got married in 1982, one of my friends sent a telegram from out of state. What I got was a telephone call from a bored operator. She read me the message, and offered a confirmation copy, which was printed out as a mailgram and mailed about three days later. I've given up on Telegrams. I'd rather send a fedex package with a Texas Sized Jelly Donut or something. The poster says that he'd hate to see them die out, but I think that they have. There's probably good reason to dictate a message, and have it printed out and delivered by a messenger, but that's hardly cost effective these days. For instance, for $25, you can send an MCI Mail letter which is delivered by Purolator courier within four business hours. If telegrams cost $25, who'd use them though. -edg Ed Greenberg uunet!apple!netcom!edg
sethi@udel.edu (Adarsh Sethi) (09/21/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0387m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> you write: >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 387, message 4 of 7 >While we're on the subject of Western Union, here are a few questions about >WU that I've had for quite a while. > > 3. Do telegrams and mailgrams have any modern commercial application > with the advent of electronic mail, the overnight letter, fax, > etc.? I have nothing against telegrams, and it would be a pity > for such a thing to ever die out, but are they still used in major > ways today? (other than the traditional sending of a telegram to > a wedding when you're away) Telegrams are still very useful for overseas communication where telephones are not yet as ubiquitous as they are in the US. In this country though, their use seems to be very limited. By the way, does anyone have a list of other companies (other than Western Union, that is) that handle telegrams? I would appreciate names and telephone numbers. Our local yellow pages are totally blank on this account. Please email to me if it is not of sufficient interest to the Telecom Digest. Adarsh Sethi sethi@udel.edu University of Delaware
markw@gvlf1-c.gvl.unisys.com (Mark H. Weber) (09/22/89)
The instructions for registering in the UUCP ".US" domain indicate that city codes assigned are Western Unions' "City Codes". Is there a reference available for these codes, or a number to call to find out what the city code is for a particular city? I called my local Western Union office, but the operator had no idea what a "city code" was. Mark H. Weber ( markw@GVL.Unisys.COM [128.126.220.102] or ...!psuvax1!burdvax!gvlv2!markw or ...!uunet!lgnp1!gvlv2!markw ) Unisys - Great Valley Laboratories Paoli, PA 19301 (215) 648-7111 [Moderator's Note: City Codes are three letter mnemonics unique to each city, such as CHI STL NYC DFW. I don't know them all, but that is the idea. It is how telegrams were routed long ago. PT]