[GreenKeys] eBay - Western Union tape moistener & cutter

[Richard Knoppow]

    Very interesting and fills in a gap in my understanding. I 
had assumed that messages incoming to the radio station were by 
page printer. Of course, in the older practice there was 
evidently a WU Morse line. I had assumed that there was a traffic 
office somewhere where incoming messages were received and 
distributed to the radio station or stations and received radio 
messages were sent via messenger, telegraph or phone. If one 
wanted to send a radiogram how exactly was it done? Did one call 
WU or RCA and how to specify which radio company handled the 
message? All this was going on during my lifetime but I never did 
any of it and am now extremely curious. Going the the other way, 
that is a message originating on a ship, it would go via whatever 
company contracted the radio service (presumably) except what 
happened if you were on a TRT ship. Plus, there seem to have been 
a couple of independent stations at various times. How did that 
work?

On 10/31/2019 12:14 PM, Richard Dillman wrote:
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 11:47 AM Richard Knoppow 
> <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com <mailto:1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>> wrote:
> 
>           I am sure Radiomarine org would give it a good home but
>     I am
>     doubtful that radiograms were sent that way. My understanding is
>     that radiograms were delivered via WU or Postal Telegraph or
>     later telephone. Sometimes via mail.
>          While this was general knowledge at the time its
>     difficult to
>     find authentic details now. However, beside the ship and shore
>     station charges there was also a forwarding charge, which was
>     the
>     telegraph company charge from the coastal station to the
>     destination.
> 
> 
> Hi Richard.  We wondered about that ourselves.  In the station 
> reports of 1946 and 1947 which we are fortunate to have, station 
> manager Frank Geisel frequently complains that the Western Union 
> line was down.  But we were not sure how that line was used.  
> However in a photo of the operating room of that era some sort of 
> strip printer is prominent (see attached).   A Teletype 
> enthusiast more expert that us identified it as a 2B sitting on 
> what we later learned was called a gumming table.  Eventually a 
> dim light dawned.  Radiograms for ships at sea could of course be 
> filed at any RCA office or by messenger.  All the big cities had 
> these offices.  But in other locations a radiogram could be filed 
> at any Western Union office.  If for a ship in the Pacific the 
> radiogram would be printed on the 2B at KPH, pasted on a 
> radiogram blank in the usual manner and put on the hook as 
> outgoing traffic.
> 
> It took more than a decade to sort this out, find a 2B, have it 
> restored and return it to operation (with the help of several on 
> this list).  But we are proud to say the 2B is back in service.  
> Now all we need is that WU line.  Darn thing has been out of 
> service for more than 60 years.
> 
> Although we do have a moistener I was thinking of bidding on this 
> one mainly for the metal cut off device (ours is plastic).  But 
> if anyone needs a moistener to complete their 2B installation 
> please say so and I will happily refrain from bidding.
> 
> VY 73,
> 
> RD
> 
> =========================
> Richard Dillman
> Chief Operator, KPH
> =========================

-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL