And it’s the last one in the world apparently, or at least the last major one. The last telegram will be sent on Monday. Stories here and here.
“… young lovers sent them to tell their folks that they had eloped.” I can see it now: “DEAR FOLKS STOP WE ARE MARRIED STOP US IF YOU CAN STOP.”
It’s a little sad really. Yet something else to make me feel old. Thailand stopped its service a few years ago. The last telegram I sent was from here to the US, in the mid-1990s.
Now they’ll text the news: “dr folks we r married lol”
Seems like Mexico and Russia still have telegraph networks up and running, though.
Balderdash! I know, having seen with my own eyes, that there are live telegraph systems, still up and running and functioning, right here in the U S of A.
Oh, wait. That’s live, as in a museum exhibit I saw in Los Angeles. It connects from a little booth on one side of the room to a little booth on the other side of the room.
Western Union telegrams still exist, sorta. These people took over their equipment.
Oh yeah, that makes me feel better. Like the time I saw an adding machine in a museum here. 
“The telegram service trusted in over 200 countries,” it says. I’m always suspicious of such claims. Aren’t there only something like 195 countries?
Do many people over here read paper books? I guess no. They will also be (nearly) gone
:eek: Blasphemy! I read only paper books. I’ve been lugging around McCullough’s 1000-page Truman biography these past few weeks and happy to do it. None of those newfangled reading contraptions for me! I like the look, the feel, the very smell of a genuine book.
I also read mainly paper books. I do have an e-reader and have every intention of using it–someday.
We’re decades away from that. There is still a huge market for real books. Telegrams persisted even in the US for decades beyond when the overwhelming majority of people had even seen one.
The UN has 193 members, the IOC has 203 and Fifa has 208 so it’s a bit of a slippery number I guess.
I sent my mom a telegram from Nevada to Ohio in 1981.
I suppose then it could be “over” 200, but some of those probably aren’t even countries – for example, Hong Kong and Macau are always referred to as countries in the newspapers here. But I’ve seen ludicrous claims from some companies about being active in 225 countries, that one I remember, and maybe even higher figures.
Considering the IOC considers Puerto Rico seperate from the U.S. and Scotland competes seperately from England in many international sporting competitions, it’s easy to see how you could calculate 225 countries.
Well, one of the links in my OP said the last message would be sent Monday, but apparently it’s today, Sunday. It’s 6pm where I am, and we’re 1-1/2 hours ahead of India. BBC was just reporting that so many people want to send a telegram on this last day that they’re having to stay open later than usual, at least in the Calcutta office, where the report was made. They said in fact, if these sorts of numbers were seen a few weeks ago, they might not be shutting down now.
Neither libraries or used bookstores are completely out of business soon. OTOH, almost no one has a telegraph in their home.
There was never a time when most people had a telegraph in their home.
I was suggesting a trend. these days people’s attention span is small, there is all kinds of information, latest news n updates available online that people read less books and even less paper books.
if you are into reading paper books, its great - they are better than ebooks arguably . they are great for mental stimulation n good for mental exercise, positivity, improving concentration besides their useful content. keep it up.