Simple Telegram Delivery Question

[dolphinboy]

Back in the heyday of telegrams, say in the US during the 1930’s, someone would visit (or call?) their local Western Union office, dictate a telegram, pay WU, and the message would then be transmitted by telegraph to the WU office nearest the recipient’s address. Someone at the receiving WU office would receive the message and then schedule a delivery.

Let’s say you want your telegram delivered to an office, so the delivery guy goes out to the office and nobody is there. Does he slip the telegram under the door, assuming there is some way to do that, drop it in the mail box, assuming there is one, leave a note saying that the recipient can come pick it up at the WU office, or simply try to deliver it later that day, or perhaps in the next day or two?

I assume the delivery guy wouldn’t call in advance to see if the recipient was there… which begs the question why bother sending a telegram if you could just pick up the phone and call the person?

[Giles]

Back in those days, long-distance phone calls were really expensive, especially if you only wanted to send a short message. That’s why you sent a telegram rather than ring someone up. I’m old enough to remember sending my parents a telegram when I was away at camp (just to say I was there), and I’m sure ringing them up would have cost more than the telegram.

However, I’m not sure what happened if they tried to deliver and the office was closed, or there was nobody home.

[MikeS]

@Giles

Back in those days, long-distance phone calls were really expensive, especially if you only wanted to send a short message.

For reference, a five-minute phone call from New York to Los Angeles cost $3.70 in 1950 (cite), which would be $32.62 (!) in 2009 dollars. I would guess that it would have been even more expensive (in constant dollars, and maybe even in actual dollars) in 1930.

[hajario]

I was born in 1963 and my parents got a few telegrams of congratulation even then. Part of the reason would have been to avoid bothering them when they were dealing with the new baby, just like you you’d just send a text now.

Even when I was a kid, long distance phone calls were relatively expensive. I can remember trying to talk to someone when they were on the phone and they’d say, “Wait a minute, this call is” (pause for emphsis) “long distance.” Some older people still say that today.

[RealityChuck]

@Giles

Back in those days, long-distance phone calls were really expensive, especially if you only wanted to send a short message. That’s why you sent a telegram rather than ring someone up. I’m old enough to remember sending my parents a telegram when I was away at camp (just to say I was there), and I’m sure ringing them up would have cost more than the telegram.

What? You didn’t call person-to-person to yourself?

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@dolphinboy

drop it in the mail box

This is not legal – nobody but the USPO can put things in mailboxes. And the Post Office takes it pretty seriously. Especially from a business like Western Union – the postal inspectors will be on them quickly & heavily. At the very least, they will have to pay for a First-Class stamp for every such telegram.

[dolphinboy]

So the question stands… what happened when the recipient wasn’t there when the delivery guy arrived? Can it be delivered to someone else who happens to be there? Did people have to sign for a telegram like a FedEx package?

[Musicat]

If it was a singing telegram, it would be hard to leave it at the door.

[OldGuy]

I don’t know about the 30’s but at later times, the standard procedure for “delivering” telegrams was to have the local Western Union office phone you and read it. You, the recipient, could pay extra and get a delivery which meant you’d get a copy in the mail.

[fumster]

I think people forget that not everybody had telephones back in the day. They certainly didn’t have answering machines. Telegrams were also more similar to letters from a cultural perspective. It used to be common to have the best man read aloud telegrams with congratulations from people who could not make it in person.

[hajario]

@sh1bu1

It used to be common to have the best man read aloud telegrams with congratulations from people who could not make it in person.

Unlike a letter, you could specify when you wanted the telegram to be delivered. You could order it to be sent to the reception hall or whatever a half hour before the ceremony.

[Giles]

@sh1bu1

I think people forget that not everybody had telephones back in the day. They certainly didn’t have answering machines. Telegrams were also more similar to letters from a cultural perspective. It used to be common to have the best man read aloud telegrams with congratulations from people who could not make it in person.

Right: that happened at my wedding a bit more than 30 years ago, but I suspect that my best man made most of them up

[Mr_Downtown]

“No one home” was less of a problem in the heyday of telegrams. Fewer women worked, families were larger and more extended, domestic help was more common, relatively few young people lived alone without a landlady or desk clerk.

[whitetho]

The short answer is you made a follow-up attempt, but also left a notice asking the recipient to contact the office. (See, for example, a sample of Western Union Form No. 66.)

The long answer appears below:

@Twentieth Century Manual of Railway Commercial and Wireless Telegraphy

LESSON VIII.

Delivery Department.

Messages to be Copied.
Each message to be delivered will be copied and enclosed in the proper envelope, which will be carefully sealed and fully and plainly addressed.
Amount of Tolls to be Written on Envelopes.
When tolls are to be collected, the amount in words will be written in ink upon the envelope, and also upon the messenger’s delivery sheet.
Sending Office’s Instructions as to Delivery.
Instructions from the sending office in regard to the delivery of a message will be carefully observed. A request to “report delivery” will be answered by a collect message addressed to the sender of the original message, stating the time of the delivery, or, if not delivered, the reason why it was not delivered.
Messages Addressed to More than One Person.
When a message addressed, for example, to “A or B” is received, it will be delivered to either one or the other of the addresses.
Messages Requiring Answers.
When a message requires an answer, the word “answer” will be plainly written on the envelope, and the messenger will be instructed to make diligent efforts to obtain such answer. Should he fail to obtain it, he will report the reason to the delivery clerk. Messengers will, in all cases, be supplied with proper blanks on which answers can be written.
Free Delivery Limits.
Messages will be delivered free within a radius of one-half mile from the office in any town or city of less than 5,000 inhabitants, and within a radius of one mile from the office in any city or town of 5,000 or more inhabitants. Beyond these limits only the actual cost of the delivery service will be collected. The manager will, however, see that such cost is as reasonable as possible.
Special Delivery.
If the service of a special messenger be required, and the special delivery charges have not been provided for, the sending office will promptly be notified by telegraph of the cost of delivery, and that office will endeavor to collect the charges for delivery of the sender, who, if he pays or guarantees the delivery charges, will also pay for the message ordering the special delivery, or guarantee the collection of the tolls thereon. If the sending office be unable to collect, or if a reply from the sending office to the notice be not promptly received, a copy of the message will be mailed to the addressee, and if another copy be afterward delivered, the word “Duplicate” will be plainly written across its face.
In Case of Failure to Collect Delivery Charges.
When special delivery charges which have been guaranteed can not be collected by the office making the delivery, the sending office will be immediately notified by a service message of the falinre to collect and of the amount of charges.
Messages not to be Delivered to Unauthorized Persons.
A message must not be left with a janitor or porter of a building for delivery by him, nor be slipped under a door, nor left in a letter box, unless the addressee has filed with the manager a written request for such delivery; nor will a messenger allow an unauthorized person to know to whom a message is addressed.
Notice to Addressees of’ Undelivered Messages.
When a message can not be delivered because the addressee’s place of business or residence is closed, or because no authorized person can be found to receive the message, the messenger will leave a notice at the place of address to the effect that a message for the addressee is at the office of the company awaiting delivery. The undelivered message will then be returned to the office, with the reason of the non-delivery indorsed upon the envelope, and will be delivered as early thereafter as possible.
Non-Delivery in Consequence of Wrong Address.
When a message can not be delivered on account of a wrong or an inadequate address, or because the addressee is unknown, a record of the facts will be made upon the envelope of the undelivered message, and the sending office will be promptly notified by telegraph of the non-delivery. The service message giving such notice will contain the address of the message as received, and the reason of the failure of delivery. On receipt of the telegraph notice, above referred to, the sending office will compare addresses, and will correct by telegraph any error that may be found. If no error appears, notice will be given to the sender of the message, who, if he desires to change the address, must either send a new message, or pay for the service message necessary to change the address of the original.
Pending the correspondence as to better address, the receiving office will put a copy of the message, addressed as first received, in the post office.
Messages Delivered “Subject to Correction.”
If a manager believes that a mistake has been made in the transmission of a message to his office, and the correction can not be quickly made, he will deliver the message with the words, “Delivered subject to correction,” indorsed thereon. He will then take steps to secure a correct copy, which will, be indorsed, “Corrected Copy,” and will be promptly delivered. If no error be found a notice to that effect will be delivered.
Message Offered During the Interruption of Lines.
If a message be offered when communication is known to be interrupted, it will be accepted only if the sender chooses to leave it for transmission when communication is restored. Upon such a message write the words, “Subject to delay,” and request the sender to affix thereto his signature or initials.
No Promises as to Transportation or Delivery.
Employes are particularly cautioned against making any promise to customers respecting the transmission or delivery of a message.
Sender’s Address to be Taken.
The address of the sender of a message, unless it be well known, will be requested and recorded.
Messages to be Prepaid.
All messages will be prepaid, except free messages and those covered by rules following.
Collect Messages.
An answer to a prepaid message, or a message for which payment for transmission, or for special delivery, is guaranteed by a responsible party, may be accepted “Collect.”
Guaranteed Deposits.
When a deposit has been made to guarantee payment for transmission, or for special delivery, the deposit will be returned after three days, if no notice of failure to collect the charges has been received. But if a notice of failure to collect be received, the amount due the company will be deducted from the deposit, and the remainder will be returned.
Profane or Obscene Messages.
A message containing profane or obscene language will not be accepted for transmission over the wires of any company.
Railroad Messages.
A message of an officer or agent of a railroad company with which a telegraph company has a contract, when on the business of such railroad company, may be sent free, without a “frank,” between stations on such road; but when such message is offered at or for a place beyond or off such road, it will not be sent free unless covered by a “frank.”
Delivery of Messages Without Payment.
If the addressee of a collect message refuses to pay for the same the message will nevertheless be tendered to him, and unless the message be an answer to a free or to a paid message, notice of the failure to collect will be at once given to the sending office by service message.
Delivery of Night Messages and Delivery of Night Messages When Called For.
A night message will not, unless called for, be delivered until the morning of the next business day after its date; except upon payment of full day rates in case of a collect message, and the difference between the night and day rates in the case of a paid message. The additional amount collected will be accounted for as “Sundry Receipts”
Delivery of Insured Messages.
When an insured message is received at an office from which it is to be delivered, it will be the duty of the manager, or of the person in charge, to satisfy himself that prompt and correct delivery is made.
Messengers’ Books to be Examined.
The manager or the delivery clerk will examine the delivery sheet or books of each messenger on his return from each service, and at the close of the day, to see that faithful delivery has been made, and that all proper notifications have been given.

[bleibtreu]

@whitetho

The short answer is you made a follow-up attempt, but also left a notice asking the recipient to contact the office.

And of course that makes sense. Much like the procedure for package deliveries, certified letters, etc., that have to be given to someone and can’t simply be left if no one is home.