12 Apr
2010
12 Apr
'10
4:42 p.m.
I just discovered that Western Union's old telegram service isn't really
dead -- just sold to an outfit called "iTelegram". Never having really
looked at telegram services until now, I was wondering if anyone had any
information on what a same-day telegram cost way back when. Nowadays,
iTelegram does it for $45 + 88 cents a word.
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
12 Apr
12 Apr
7:16 p.m.
Wow... that is expensive. Email, anyone?
On Apr 12, 2010, at 6:42 PM, David Griffith wrote:
I just discovered that Western Union's old telegram service isn't really dead --
just sold to an outfit called "iTelegram". Never having really looked at
telegram services until now, I was wondering if anyone had any information on what a
same-day telegram cost way back when. Nowadays, iTelegram does it for $45 + 88 cents a
word.
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
8:57 p.m.
At 4:42 PM -0700 4/12/10, David Griffith wrote:
I just discovered that Western Union's old telegram
service isn't
really dead -- just sold to an outfit called "iTelegram". Never
having really looked at telegram services until now, I was wondering
if anyone had any information on what a same-day telegram cost way
back when. Nowadays, iTelegram does it for $45 + 88 cents a word.
According to a book I have that lists stuff like that prices were
roughly in the following range.
1890's
12 words = 12 cents
each additional word = 1 cent
International per word $1
1920's
12 words = 25 cents
each additional word = 2 cents
International per word $1.25
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
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13 Apr
13 Apr
2:37 a.m.
David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> writes:
I was wondering if anyone had any information on what
a same-day
telegram cost way back when.
http://distantwriting.co.uk/ may be of interest.
In 1870, when sending a letter anywhere in the UK cost 1d (roughly 30p
today, based on measuringworth.com's RPI calculator), sending a 20-word
telegram at the biggest UK telegraph companies' standard rates cost 6d
(?1.78) within London, 1s 0d (?3.57) within 100 miles, 1s 6d (?5.35)
within 200 miles, and 2s 0d (?7.13) beyond 200 miles. Cheaper bulk rates
were available for frequent users.
Delivery was typically much faster than just the same day; the author
gives the example of a farmer telegraphing his wife to tell her that the
weather was poor and she shouldn't bother coming to the market.
--
Adam Sampson <ats at offog.org> <http://offog.org/>
5368
days inactive
5369
days old
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ats＠offog.org -
dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu -
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oltmansg＠bellsouth.net