Western Union -STOP- Ends Telegram Service

[democracyindanger]

For more than 150 years, messages of joy, sorrow and success came in signature yellow envelopes hand delivered by a courier. Now the Western Union telegram is officially a thing of the past.

The company formed in April 1856 to exploit the hot technology of the telegraph to send cross-country messages in less than a day. It is now focusing its attention on money transfers and other financial services, and delivered its final telegram on Friday.

"The decision was a hard decision because we're fully aware of our heritage," Victor Chayet, a spokesman for the Greenwood Village-based company, said Wednesday. "But it's the final transition from a communications company to a financial services company."

Several telegraph companies that eventually combined to become Western Union were founded in 1851. Western Union built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/01/financial/f185228S94.DTL

One of those things I always wanted to do. Oh well, procrastination strikes again.

[no name no slogan]

1. Well, there's still smoke signals and carrier pigeon

[democracyindanger]

4. And yodelling.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. I had thought of sending a telegram a couple years ago,

just to be kind of cool...

and for a one sentence telegram they wanted something like $30 or $35. That was in 1996.

No wonder they're phasing it out.

[Benfea]

3. In an age of email, I'm amazed they lasted this long. -NT

[Maddy McCall]

5. NPR did a fascinating story on this yesterday.

I'm an historian, and I've had to sort through telegrams in archives many times...I never knew that the STOP was less expensive than punctuation, and that's why everyone used "STOP."

[malmapus]

6. Somebody set up us the bomb.

All your base are belong to us!

I was going to make a legit polling till I saw that option :P

Never sent a telegram though -STOP-
Wish I did now -STOP-