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Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Posted 2/01/2006 05:12:00 PM by Douglas

I had no idea that up until last week, I could walk into a Western Union office and send a telegram. Now? I'll never get the chance. But, on the bright side, I'll never get to use a buggy whip on a dodo bird, either, and so far, that hasn't made me lose any sleep, either.
After 145 years, Western Union has quietly stopped sending telegrams.

On the company's web site, if you click on "Telegrams" in the left-side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that ends a technological era with about as little fanfare as possible:

"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."
Irony, anyone? On their website? How many people go to their computer, boot up, get to the internets to find their nearest telegram office? But that's kinda their point, yet I digress:
The decline of telegram use goes back at least to the 1980s, when long-distance telephone service became cheap enough to offer a viable alternative in many if not most cases. Faxes didn't help. Email could be counted as the final nail in the coffin.
The 1980s? I think the era of the telegram was over long before Reagan, but I could be wrong. The concept of the abridged discount telegram is still a hilarious plot formula in ¡Three Amigos! "I give you the five peso version, senorita."


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