A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations.

Developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) and other inventors, the telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations.

In a punched-tape system, the message is first typed onto punched tape using the code of the telegraph system—Morse code for instance. It is then, either immediately or at some later time, run through a transmission machine which sends the message to the telegraph network.

Although the telegraph that Samuel F. B. Morse successfully tested in 1837 is no longer in use today, its fall did give rise to many other forms of long distance communication. For example, wireless telegraphy, also known as radiotelegraphy or radio, is still a very important part of society.

The equipment’s guaranteed working range was 250 miles, but communications could be maintained for up to 400 miles during daylight and up to 2000 miles at night.

In case phone, fax, e-mail, FedEx or text messages are too easy, fast and cheap for your liking, it’s good to know you can still send a telegram. Yes, you can send actually send someone a telegram, that is, a message sent via telegraph lines formerly owned by Western Union. …

Telegrams are transmitted over satellite link within six hours. They are then delivered to the recipient by the crew.

Yes, it is still possible to send a personal, hand-delivered telegram. They are well aware of their own anachronism: “Most people are pretty surprised to learn that telegrams still exist, and in fact are still pretty widely used in some parts of the world,” says Colin Stone, Director of Operations.

Samuel Morse, for example, went to the US Congress in 1843 when he was seeking funds to demonstrate his telegraph system by running a telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore. The line was completed in 1844 at a cost of $30,000.

The cost of early telegrams were only justified by the value of instant communication. In 1860, for example, a ten-word telegram sent from New York to New Orleans cost $2.70 (about $65 in 2012 currency). Despite the high cost, some 212 million telegrams were sent in the US in 1929, the peak year for such activity.

1977

People would save money by using the word “stop” instead of periods to end sentences because punctuation was extra while the four character word was free. Telegrams were used to announce the first flight in 1903 and the start of World War I.

If it seems impossible to convey your meaning clearly without the use of punctuation, use may be made of the celebrated word “stop,” which is known the world over as the official telegraphic or cable word for “period.” This word “stop” may have perplexed you the first time you encountered it in a message.

Myth: Telegrams used STOP in place of punctuation because punctuation cost extra. The real story: Morse code originally had only capital letters and no punctuation. Even after punctuation was introduced, people continued fashionably using STOP between sentences in telegrams even though they didn’t have to.

Jan

During World War II, the sight of a Western Union courier was feared because the War Department, the precursor to the Department of Defense, used the company to notify families of the death of their loved ones serving in the military, Chayet said.

Today, American Morse code is nearly extinct. A few amateur radio users and Civil War re-enactors still keep it alive. Pilots were required to know how to communicate using Morse code up until the 1990s. Today Morse code is primarily used among amateur radio users.

144 years after Samuel Morse sent the first telegram in Washington, the world’s final telegram will be sent in India on July 14, 2013. Telegraph services ended in the United States seven years ago, but in India, the century-and-a-half old communication medium is still widely used to send messages.

Western Union closed its telegraphy service a decade ago. (“The last 10 telegrams included birthday wishes, condolences on the death of a loved one, notification of an emergency, and several people trying to be the last to send a telegram,” the Associated Press reported of the closure in 2006.)

The Telegram service, which remained in India for 163 years, is no more in use. Here’s a look at some interesting facts about the service which was last used on July 14, 2013.