# Smoke signals.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-signals/622488>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 20, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-signals/622488 "2012-05-20T02:52:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-signals/622488/1 "2012-05-20T02:52:24Z")

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Were they ever used? Is this an old wives tale?  
How much info could be transmitted or received from smoke?

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**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-signals/622488/2 "2012-05-20T02:57:04Z")

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[The Master addressed this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1128/are-there-really-such-things-as-talking-drums).