[GreenKeys] My first introduction to Teletype

[Ralph Irish]

For me, that would have been about age 9 or 10, in Cub Scouts.  One of the 'Den Dads' made
arrangements at the Detroit FBI Office for a simple tour for our particular Den.  Someone
took the time and trouble to punch out a tape of 'Greetings' to us.  It was sent from another
office, I guess.  

A group of uniformed Cubs and a few Dads, along with two or three agents were stopped at an
idle Teletype machine.  After a few words of introduction about the machine and how important
it was, it came to life, rang a few bells, and we were told to gather around it and watch the
incoming 'message'.  Our group was greeted by our Pack number (246) and Den number (7), and 
the name of our Den Mother, even though she was not present.  

After all that, there was some basic info about the TTY system and how 'fast' it was in getting
info from one place to another to help keep 'law and order' in different parts of the country.

The message repeated several times and two or three lucky guys (not me) got to take a copy of it
home with them.  Wonder if any of the copies survived more than three or four years before it
got tossed?

Since I'm 81, and this likely took place in my second or third year of Cubs, it might have been
in 1950 or 1951.  

Pretty neat stuff for a 9 or 10 year old!

Ralph - W8ROI


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