# Western Union stops sending telegrams **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2006, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092 "2006-02-05T10:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/1 "2006-02-05T10:20:42Z")
It’s the end of an [era](http://www.livescience.com/technology/060131_western_union.html) For some reason this really saddens me. I’ve been considering for a long time sending my mom a “telegram” via Western Union. Had I known this was going to end I would have gone ahead and done it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/2 "2006-02-05T10:49:37Z")
The end of telegrams has been coming for some time. Still, I’m sorry you missed out, **Blalron**. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/3 "2006-02-05T12:54:18Z")
The Train don’t come here, no more, Either… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/4 "2006-02-05T13:19:39Z")
Also I can’t use my horse and buggie anymore as I broke my horse and buggie whip and the horse and buggie whip business went south too ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/5 "2006-02-05T14:03:23Z")
And thus the “If you want a message, call Western Union” line variously attributed to movie producers [Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cohn, and Samuel Goldwyn](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22want+a+message+call+Western+Union%22&btnG=Search) joins the list of expressions which will have to be footnoted for the benefit of generations just born and those yet to come. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/6 "2006-02-05T14:45:34Z")
many federal postal systems in europe have done the same thing recently … it seems to be a “domino effect” kind of thing ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/7 "2006-02-05T16:17:29Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > For some reason this really saddens me. I’ve been considering for a long time sending my mom a “telegram” via Western Union. Had I known this was going to end I would have gone ahead and done it. ☹ Being a geezer and having used telegrams many times years ago, it sort of saddens me too. Some random thoughts: During WWII, notifications of the death of anybody in the service came by telegram. This gave people horrors when a Western Union messenger rode his bike up their sidewalks. Most people had a fear of them anyway, as they were perceived to bring only bad news, although that certainly was not the case. Millions used them for quick messages as snail mail was really slow back then. You got ten words for the basic price, and then paid for each additional word. That resulted in the joke about a guy who went into the office, wrote out a message to his girlfriend, which read, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” The attendant told him he could have one more word for the same price, so he added, “Regards.” ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/8 "2006-02-05T17:49:51Z")
the inland telegram service here ceased in 1982, by which time scarcely anyone used them anymore, except for congratulatory wedding telegrams ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/9 "2006-02-05T18:00:18Z")
Why did telegrams say “STOP”, instead of having a period between sentences? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/10 "2006-02-05T18:06:40Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Why did telegrams say “STOP”, instead of having a period between sentences? dont have the cite, but I read yesterday that the word STOP was free (or part of a 10-word payment. But punctuation marks cost more. Looks weird, but then at least they never sent stuff like: “how R U W8 4 me” ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/11 "2006-02-05T18:33:22Z")
My grandparents met when my grandfather came into the Western Union office where my grandmother was working to send a telegram. He used to send her telegrams at work while they were dating and he was travelling for work. This was in the late 20’s/early 30’s. I think my mom still had a couple of them that my grandmother saved. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/12 "2006-02-05T19:39:20Z")
Does anyone know what the last telegram was? ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/13 "2006-02-05T20:25:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Does anyone know what the last telegram was? Help. Help. I’m being held hostage… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/14 "2006-02-05T22:21:02Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Why did telegrams say “STOP”, instead of having a period between sentences? The original telegrams were transmitted in [Morse code](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code), which had no punctuation marks and no lower case. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/15 "2006-02-05T22:36:47Z")
I wonder if you’ll still be able to wire money. That saved our asses only a few years ago during a vacation in Europe when our credit card was canceled. We had applied for a new credit limit and it took effect at exactly the wrong time. We went to the Western Union office in Paris (which was located right in the shadow of Notre Dame), and had our bank wire us some bucks. Thanks, Western Union. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/16 "2006-02-05T23:11:42Z")
> [@teela brown](#): > > I wonder if you’ll still be able to wire money. That saved our asses only a few years ago during a vacation in Europe when our credit card was canceled. We had applied for a new credit limit and it took effect at exactly the wrong time. We went to the Western Union office in Paris (which was located right in the shadow of Notre Dame), and had our bank wire us some bucks. Thanks, Western Union. According to the article in the OP “Western Union has not failed. It long ago refocused its main business to make money transfers for consumers and businesses. Revenues are now $3 billion annually. It’s now called Western Union Financial Services, Inc. and is a subsidiary of First Data Corp.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/17 "2006-02-06T00:08:29Z")
Does anyone else provide telegram services? I could see a niche or novelty market here, with the telegrams carried over the net. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/18 "2006-02-06T00:10:00Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > The original telegrams were transmitted in [Morse code](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code), which had no punctuation marks and no lower case. No lower case, true. But Morse has had punctuation marks since 1848. (The first WikiPedia chart does not include puncs, but others on the same page do. My guess is the “1922” chart was not intended to be comprehensive, just a graphic reproduction of a brief code list.) RE: Use of STOP Certainly there was a period code (._._._), which is also given as the STOP code, which is not surprising. Although I am familiar with International Morse as used in the 20th Century as a Ham, I have never been a telegraph operator. Still it seems questionable that a fee would be charged to transmit a period (._._._) but not to transmit a STOP code (._._.\_), and if the letters S T O P were actually transmitted, that would make even less sense. So I still can’t understand why STOP was used in telegrams. RE: Wiring money Why would you need to wire money in this day of ATMs and credit cards worldwide? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/19 "2006-02-06T00:16:31Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Does anyone else provide telegram services? > > I could see a niche or novelty market here, with the telegrams carried over the net. How about personally-delivered singing or dancing telegrams? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092/20 "2006-02-06T00:20:15Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Why would you need to wire money in this day of ATMs and credit cards worldwide? Susie runs away from home, calls for help from Memphis has no internet account and the guy she went with stold him cards and cash. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-union-stops-sending-telegrams/343092.md?page=2)