# Why did telegram services last as long as they did? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986 "2020-10-01T20:09:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/1 "2020-10-01T20:09:40Z")
I saw an article that said the last telegram was sent in the US in 2006; two weeks later the world would see the first Tweet. When you consider the telephone was invented a little over 30 years after telegraph, it begs the question how did the telegraph - a slower and less convenient means of communication - manage to survive as long as it did? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/2 "2020-10-01T20:12:37Z")
After it became hopelessly old-fashioned, it developed a cachet that no other communication method could match. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/3 "2020-10-01T20:13:35Z")
My guess is that since telegrams were associated with important information (death notices, etc.), there was a cachet in sending one, keeping telegraph services in business long after better communications means existed. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/4 "2020-10-01T20:19:35Z")
I wasn’t sure if this belonged in General Questions or not. Mods feel free to move if appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/5 "2020-10-01T20:37:32Z")
Why 2006? iTelegram still claims they will hand-deliver telegrams in the U.S. even today, $28.95 + 0.75 per word. In any case, while you may still send a telegram, it’s not being transmitted via a 19th-century-style telegraph, nor was it in 2006. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/6 "2020-10-01T20:44:06Z")
When they say “hand-delivered”, I’ll bet they’re putting the letter in a FedEx envelope and sending it overnight delivery. I vaguely remember my parents getting telegrams in the 1970s that came via the US mail. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/8 "2020-10-01T20:49:02Z")
What happened to my post?!?! Anyway, telegraphs remained for long distance communication for a long time after phones were invented. At first, because long distance phone service was unavailable or expensive. And even as that improved, unlike phones telegraphs could be sent to a location with just an name and/or address. Money could be wired on that basis as well. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/9 "2020-10-01T20:50:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When they say “hand-delivered”, I’ll bet they’re putting the letter in a FedEx envelope and sending it overnight delivery. I vaguely remember my parents getting telegrams in the 1970s that came via the US mail. I never used them so don’t know firsthand, but there is a picture of a motorcycle courier on their home page. Also, if you’re OK with them sending the telegram through the postal service, that’s only $18.95 for up to 100 words, but that’s also horribly lame IMO! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/10 "2020-10-01T20:52:37Z")
It’s not totally clear to me if “last telegram” is referring to the process of paying someone to deliver a typed message by hand, or the actual technological backbone. [Here’s an article about the last telegram being in 2006](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11147506/ns/business-us_business/t/stop-telegram-era-over-western-union-says/#.VqDq8GTF8ik), but it’s specific to Western Union. I find it kind of hard to believe that there were single wires strung around and someone pounding away in morse code on a telegraph key in 2006, so presumably that letter is just the last time that Western Union would take your $10 and hand deliver a text message somewhere, having abandoned the actual technology years (decades?) before. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/11 "2020-10-01T20:53:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When they say “hand-delivered”, I’ll bet they’re putting the letter in a FedEx envelope and sending it overnight delivery. I was wondering if they email the message to the nearest local taxi dispatch, florist, pizza delivery, etc with a fleet of vehicles & drivers. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/12 "2020-10-01T20:55:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When they say “hand-delivered”, I’ll bet they’re putting the letter in a FedEx envelope and sending it overnight delivery. I vaguely remember my parents getting telegrams in the 1970s that came via the US mail. Now that you mention it, I think I got some information about a job interview in the early 1980s in a “telegram” delivered by the US mail. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/13 "2020-10-01T21:00:22Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I was wondering if they email the message to the nearest local taxi dispatch, florist, pizza delivery, etc with a fleet of vehicles & drivers. It would be pretty easy for, say, Uber to add a telegram service. Just have some drivers with little portable printers go drop off a message. But why would anyone pay for such a thing? Novelty, I guess? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/14 "2020-10-01T21:04:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When they say “hand-delivered”, I’ll bet they’re putting the letter in a FedEx envelope and sending it overnight delivery. I vaguely remember my parents getting telegrams in the 1970s that came via the US mail. Thinking further, I think they called first and read the message with the mailed telegram coming a day or so later. (So even then, it was obviously something obsolete.) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/15 "2020-10-01T21:05:30Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > It would be pretty easy for, say, Uber to add a telegram service. Just have some drivers with little portable printers go drop off a message. But why would anyone pay for such a thing? > > Novelty, I guess? Proof of delivery? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/16 "2020-10-01T21:30:15Z")
When my parents traveled internationally in the 1970s & 80s, they always sent confirmation of arrival in their destination country by telegram, and we got a phone call reading the telegram within about an hour of it being placed, with the actual paper gram arriving about 12-24 hours later. A lot of countries didn’t have direct dial into the US. You had to find a phone, and call the operator, ask them to place a call to the local operator in the US, wait for a call back, and then ask that operator to place the call to your party. It could take up to an hour, and if you went to a public phone, you had to sort of commandeer it to make sure no one else used it while you awaited your call back-- not popular behavior. Otherwise, you had to seek out a public phone service station, and they were usually opened only 9am-5pm. Possibly 8am-8pm in a capital city. But you could call the local telegraph office, place your order, hang up, and the rest would be taken care of. Also, not usually a concern for my parents, but it was my understanding that if you called the telegraph office, it was easier to connect with someone who spoke English, than it was if you called the local operator. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/17 "2020-10-01T21:49:15Z")
I was still using Western Union in the 1980s for urgent written communications, where I needed a written authorization from my clients. Express mail hadn’t been introduced then; a telegram would be delivered the same day, and an “overnight letter” got there the next day. The actual contract might take three days to arrive, but the telegram was as good an authorization as any. How the telegram lasted until 2016, though, I haven’t a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/18 "2020-10-01T21:53:27Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I was still using Western Union in the 1980s for urgent written communications, where I needed a written authorization from my clients. Express mail hadn’t been introduced then; a telegram would be delivered the same day, and an “overnight letter” got there the next day. The actual contract might take three days to arrive, but the telegram was as good an authorization as any. How is that better than a fax? Fax technology was ubiquitous in the 80s. I’m not challenging you – I’m genuinely curious. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/19 "2020-10-01T22:06:04Z")
How ubiquitous fax machines were in the 1980s depends on who you were trying to communicate with. Certain businesses had them , but not nearly every type of business and most individuals did not. So if Kent was trying to get written authorization for something from my boss ( who owned three restaurants ) the choices were telegram or send someone in person. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/20 "2020-10-01T22:10:42Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > How ubiquitous fax machines were in the 1980s depends on who you were trying to communicate with. And, which part of the 1980s, as well. As per [this article on the history of the fax machine](https://ethw.org/Fax_Machines): > [@](#): > > In the United States, the number of fax machines grew from 25,000 in 1970 to 250,000 in 1980, but then exploded from 500,000 machines installed in 1985 to 5 million in 1990–nearly all made in Japan. This rapid growth of increasingly inexpensive machines turned faxing into the essential technology of an evolving global telecommunications network. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986/21 "2020-10-01T22:16:00Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > How ubiquitous fax machines were in the 1980s depends on who you were trying to communicate with. Certain businesses had them , but not nearly every type of business and most individuals did not. OK, fair enough. I joined the working world in 1982, and we used a (big) fax macine for everything. But that was in New York City, in the world of magazine publishing. Publishers had them, ad agencies had them, printers had them, everyone I worked with. Sorry, maybe I was being provincial. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-telegram-services-last-as-long-as-they-did/921986.md?page=2)