[GreenKeys] Telegram Service Using Teletypes

[john at johnwhitney.com]

I've seen the recent GreenKeys comments along the lines of "Could some entrepreneur with more dollars than sense start a smallish company and revive wire-sent telegrams?"



Well, it can be said that I have no dollars and no sense, but anyway, for fun, and to give a purpose to some of our Teletypes, I decided a couple years ago to create such a service.  It has been up and running for one year now, but never announced, until this GreenKeys email.  After spending a year of spare time here and there, I launched the service in June, 2018.  Once launched, I was too embarrassed to tell anyone about it until I had a few real users.  Our website's first paragraph says...



   In today's world of fleeting communications, an endearing Telegram, from you,

   will be long remembered.  Send one to announce an event, reaching a goal,

   or just to say thank you.  A Telegram, machine typed on paper, delivered by mail,

   has a lasting impact on the young and old alike.



...and this pretty much sums it up.



How people find the website we do not know.  I paid my son Steven $5 to search online, and he never was able to locate the service using terms like "Telegram", "Send a Telegram", etc.  It might have been on page six of Google and possibly he did not go that far.  If you search "Example Telegram" on Bing Images or Google Images, our example Telegram is the first image shown.  This does bring people to our example telegram page, and a few continue from there.



All our Telegrams are printed on sprocket feed 8.5" x 11" paper using a restored table-top Teletype 35KSR.  Model 28ASRs are shown on the website but currently the 35 does all the typing.  The printed Telegrams, of three different styles, are placed in a Kraft colored windowed envelope, postage is applied, and the result is delivered to the Post Office in Salt Lake City, Utah.



Our Telegrams have been sent to, or have been from, the following areas...



   USA 64%       Europe 22%       Africa 7%       Asia 7%



Before getting excited, know that we have sent out less 'real' Telegrams (sent by people we don't know) than can be counted on two hands!  But even this has been a hoot.  I read each Telegram to make sure it has been printed with no errors.  When a Telegram was sent from Germany to Namibia, I had to look up Namibia to make sure it was real.  The Telegrams have been original, announcing travel plans, making contact, saying thank you, and those in the romantic realm.



Since we own the service we have used it many times ourselves to send out 'thank you' Telegrams.  People have reacted with memorable charm when they bring up that they received it.



Please take a look to see for yourself.  You can enter text and selecting the various Telegram options.  As long as you don't enter a credit card and click the 'Pay' button on the final popup payment window, you will not be charged.  There are some interesting historical pages on the site showing old Telegram marketing stickers, past Telegram forms, along with a slew of actual Telegrams that span over nearly 100 years.  These are all from Telegram paraphernalia that I picked up over the years.  Here are the links...



     https://www.telegramcableco.com/



     https://www.telegramcableco.com/teletype-model-28-asr.html



     https://www.telegramcableco.com/vintage-telegrams.html



     https://www.telegramcableco.com/vintage-telegram-forms.html



     https://www.telegramcableco.com/vintage-telegram-marketing.html



If you want to link to the site, please do so.



Enjoy, and thank you to everyone in the GreenKeys community that has helped us with our Teletypes over the years, and to those who keep Teletypes going.



John Whitney

john at johnwhitney.com

AF7ZU