TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?

Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
1 Aug 2005 10:51:02 -0700

Back in the 1960s and 1970s Western Union offered a discount telegram
service called the Personal Opinion Telegram. They simply used
teleprinters located in every state capitol and in Washington. I
recall using the service on occassion.

See:
http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/technical/western-union-tech-review/22-3/p120.htm

This service seemed to last fairly long, even after conventional
telegrams fell out of favor. Would anyone know when it was officially
discontinued?

Western Union with the US Post Office also offered a popular and
profitable service known as Mailgram. WU would send your message to a
teleprinter in a post office where it would be delivered in the next
mail. This was a prompt and cost-effective way to communicate
important information. Industries used it extensively to officially
notify laid-off workers to return to work. While Mailgram didn't
offer proof of delivery, it did offer proof of sending which is
important*. I remember when Compuserve opened up it offered the
option to send a Mailgram and some businesses had a terminal on site
to send Mailgrams.

Would anyone know when it was officially discontinued?

*The US post office will give you an official receipt "Certificate of
Mailing" as proof of mailing (but NOT proof of delivery) for a nominal
fee. It is cheaper than Certified Mail and in some cases adequate as
proof of response.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In this final paragraph, what Lisa is
referring to is often times known as 'poor man's certified mail'. It
is the theory -- usually correct -- that if you mail something and do
not get it back undelivered, it i presumed to have 'stuck' at its
destination. We are assuming now that the post office is doing its job
also ... big assumption maybe. Ask at the post office for a
'certificate of mailing sticker' when you want to use it. You _must_
present the item to be mailed to the clerk at the counter; _do not_
just drop it in a slot or whatever. You have to _hand_ the letter to
them; they will then stamp their cancellation indicia on the envelope
and take it from you. You get half of the 'certificate' (which is
glued on the face of the mailing piece) also with indicia supplied by
them. That is your 'proof of mailing'. "I mailed you the letter, it
stuck (that is, I did not get it back undeliverable) so therefore you
must have gotten it." The recipient does _not_ sign for it; it is
just dumped in their mailbox like everything else that day. It is
called 'poor mans certified' since it serves about the same purpose
(except for the recieving signature) and it costs considerably less.
A certified outgoing letter (which you also have to hand over to an
employee at the counter) costs a few dollars; proof of mailing on the
other hand costs a few cents more than regular mail. PAT]

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com: "Re: Unauthorized Remote Access to Answering Machine"
Go to Previous message: USTelecom dailyLead: "BellSouth Rolls Out Wireless Broadband Service"
Next in thread: Jim Haynes: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
May be reply: Jim Haynes: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
May be reply: Wesrock@aol.com: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
May be reply: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
May be reply: The Kaminsky Family: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
May be reply: Rich Greenberg: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
May be reply: Robert Bonomi: "Re: Personal Opinion Telegram and Mailgram - Discontinuance?"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page