Posted by Dave Thewlis on November 18, 1998 at 17:37:29:
In Reply to: The GA and the telephone posted by Robert Dilley on November 18, 1998 at 16:10:20:
It is my general impression that telegrams were used quite often on matters of moment up through
the 1950s even, on both sides of the Atlantic -- and by the 1930s they were often if not always placed
via a telephone call. I think part of the reason was to ensure that the message got there, in days before
answering machines. It provide the sort of asynchronous communication that a letter did but faster (sort
of like e-mail, right?) with the added advantage of requesting a return to be sure that not only did the
message arrive, but the recipient had responded with an actual comment.