50,000 Telegrams

Not too long ago, the telegram was a common form of communication, and it was quick. The Western Union Company, which had been firing off telegrams under that name since 1856, stopped sending them in 2006. People who so desire can still send a telegram, though. One option is via iTelegram / International Telegram -- for just under twenty bucks a pop. Here's a link to their website: http://www.itelegram.com/



Millions of telegrams were sent before the Second World War, around the globe. Even as late as 1969, many Americans communicated directly with the US government by telegram. President Richard M. Nixon's "Silent Majority" speech, for instance, was applauded via 50,000 telegrams (and 30,000 letters).* But the heavy use of telegrams eventually trailed off in the wake of faxes and the internet and other cheaper delivery systems.



The quantity of letters sent as a form of substantive communication has also dropped off considerably over the past two or three decades. Before they're gone altogether, I've begun sending more "old school" letters. It'll be sad day if the US Post Office ends Saturday deliveries -- but not surprising, given the shifts toward wireless chatter. Time marches on, and everything changes.

*Source: Rick Perlstein, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, Scribner, 2008, p. 436. Thanks also to San Antonio Bill for providing a pertinent article by Adam Phillips, "The Western Union Telegram Is No More," VOA News (2/8/2006).

Today's Rune: Growth.