There was an article on Wired News about Western Union ceasing its telegram service. This makes me strangely sad. I’ve only sent two telegrams, both after our wedding, but telegrams played such an important role in our history that I feel like something is lost.
I recognize that they serve no useful function anymore, still it makes me a little melancholy. I once found a slim manual which was an antique telegram code book. To send reports of grain prices, a person would send a telegram that might consist of, “alligator table magnolia.” The person receiving the telegram would bring out their own copy of the code book and translate this message to “4 tons Lentils bought at $300.” How charming is that? Now, they’d just whip out the cellphone and shout it too loudly in some public place.
