Internet ends US telegram era
In a final irony, Western Union, which flashed good and bad news to Americans in distinctive yellow envelopes for a century and a half, quietly announced its decision to end the service on its website.
"Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services," the notice read.
"We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage."
The announcement, effective on January 27, consigned the telegram, which told generations of Americans of births, deaths, or the loss of a loved one on a foreign battlefield, reflects the new era of communications on the Internet, by email, and with mobile phones and fax machines.
Western Union’s parent company was formed in 1851, and the firm adopted its now famous name five years later. By 1861 it was providing coast-to-coast telegraph communications during the American Civil War.
The firm provided the first stock ticker for the New York Stock Exchange, and introduced its money transfer business, its core activity, in 1871.
In 1933, Western Union for the first time serenaded Americans with singing telegrams.
The first sign that the telegraph machines would soon be heading for museums came in 2000, when the company launched its website.
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