The Challenge of Preservation of Telegraphic History

Roger W. Reinke

It is naught, it is naught, sayith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

-- Prov. 20:14

The art of telegraphy is not lost. It is, however, rapidly becoming something that exists only in the memory of a few. The science of telegraphy is still found in modern communications technology, but the passing of dots and dashes is all too apparent. Some efforts to maintain the art are being made, but beyond the use of Morse code, the effective preservation and presentation of telegraphy’s instruments, ephemera, and operational methodology is disappointing.

There are, fortunately, exceptions to this rather pessimistic outlook. A few radio amateurs still use old landline telegraph equipment on the air, and a modest number of former railroad and commercial operators share a Morse wire using original instruments, the only artifice being the Internet or the public switched network. Our surviving telegraphers offer demonstrations of how messages were sent and received to appreciative audiences, but the analogy of the telegraph and the computer is seldom noted. The Internet does provide ready access to several web sites containing much historical information and illustrations of artifacts. Unselfish, uncompensated individuals are due thanks for their contributions, but the long term view in regard to personal preservation initiatives is not encouraging.

Considering the undisputed influence of telegraphy in the affairs of man from 1844 to 1900, suffice it to say the preservation of telegraphy in all its aspects is worthwhile. If the reader is inclined to dismiss historical preservation, he is invited to visit a Smithsonian museum the day after Thanksgiving. It is a daunting task, due in part to the problem of keeping the relatives entertained, but it is undertaken because there’s something there that will be of interest.

Andrew Carnegie, who started his remarkable career as a telegraph messenger and quickly became a youthful operator, had this written on the crown molding above his library: All that man has thought and done is preserved, as if by magic, in books. And there are indeed many books written over the years that help to understand the who, how, when, and why of telegraphy, but preservation of artifacts helps to put those words in meaningful context. Books alone cannot convey all that is of significance.

Collections of telegraphic material help to make the reminiscences of the original practitioners more understandable and perhaps more accurate. Preservation of valuable historical material, however, may be only incidental to the actual collecting motivation which may range from pure and simple nostalgia to the compulsive urge to possess the biggest or best collection. Pecuniary gain may enter in, because there is an active market for uncommon telegraphic artifacts of all kinds.

For those collectors of telegraphy sincere about trying to share their interests in a way that can be of use to present and future generations, there seems to be no clear path to that objective. Organizations such as the Antique Wireless Association, which enjoys well attended annual meetings, a broad membership base, and a permanent, chartered repository for materials of significance to its members, are envied. The Association greatly benefits from the fact that radio may be appreciated by doing no more than flipping a switch – and it’s still the case today. The arcane art of telegraphy involves a “secret” code, which, unfortunately, oftentimes represents an obstacle to understanding. Lacking much familiarity with the subject, support for preservation efforts is difficult to generate.

A review of past telegraphic preservation efforts is interesting and has a lesson or two to offer. In early 1880, Anson Stager, Charles Taylor, F. A. Armstrong, and J. C. Matoon, Western Union stalwarts, proposed to the telegraphic fraternity a meeting to take place in Cincinnati on September 7^th, 1880. This was to be the first National “Old Timer’s” Reunion, and the invitation included this request: “We desire that each one will secure any relics of old-time telegraphy [italics original], and send them or bring them for temporary exhibition.” The Reunion was intended to produce reminiscences of the very first days of telegraphy. J. J. Flanagan reported in an article that Ezra Cornell “ … exhibited the Morse telegraph instruments in New York and Boston as a curiosity, at twenty-five cents admission, but so little popular interest was felt … that the receipts therefrom were barely sufficient to pay his personal expenses.”

Out of this reunion was born the Old Time Telegraphers’ Association, and at the second reunion in 1882, it was decided to combine the social activities of the Society of the United States Military Telegraph Corps (the Civil War operators) with the Old Timers. At the third reunion in 1883, the Secretary was to make “ … suitable arrangements for the safe keeping of any relics … .” but the Proceedings do not describe what material, if any, was held by the two organizations.

The Old Timers’ membership grew larger in the late 1880’s and the 1890’s. The “boys” (wives and even some female operators were included) liked to get together and reminisce, sometimes to the point that proceedings for certain years apparently were never published. Those that were are replete with anecdotes, jokes, and especially laudatory and lengthy descriptions of telegraphy and telegraphers. If there was any organized effort to collect artifacts and/or document history in an objective way, such was not noted until the early1900’s.

On July 30, 1901, the Old Timers’ President, L. B. MacFarlane, wrote Charles A. Tinker, President of the Telegraphic Historical Society of North America, in response to Tinker’s proposal to consolidate the two groups. MacFarlane stated that “ … While it is true that the principal object of our Association has been to review and enjoy early acquaintances and friendships, we should remember that we are also to efficiently foster and encourage such other worthy kindred purposes … . One of the most valuable of these would be the collection and preservation of historical data relating to the art of telegraphy … .” The Old Timers agreed to the proposal at the 1901 meeting, and modified their name to the Old Time Telegraphers’ and Historical Association. At a later Reunion, it was noted that the Historical Society had at that point “…gathered a valuable collection of early telegraph apparatus including many of Professor Morse’s original instruments. When the two societies combined the relics were deposited in the Smithsonian Institute [sic] at Washington where they have been since on display.” (The Historical Society had been founded in 1895, and many of its members were also members of the Old Timers.)

Perhaps because of the merger of the Old Timers and the Historical Society, the proceedings report of the 1901 meeting contained the first formal attempt at historical preservation. John Brant, a Western Union employee and Secretary of the Old Timers, included his “Suggestions” at the very end of the publication. They read in part as follows:

“A FEW SUGGESTIONS TO MEMBERS

… Formal papers on subjects relating to telegraphic history and sketches of personal experiences are very desirable, and it is hoped members will furnish them as soon as practicable. While it is expected that not every member will immediately prepare such a paper, each can aid in the work … some of the Association’s needs:

Books, pamphlets, telegraphic newspapers, newspaper clippings, manufacturers’ catalogues of instruments, and other publications relating to telegraphy.

Manuscript documents … books, message blanks, and other forms …

Telegrams having historical interest … catalogues of books, relics, etc. in the possession of public institutions or private individuals.

Photographs of telegraphers … telegraph offices …

Instruments, batteries, insulators, specimens of wires, submarine cables, etc.

Addresses of persons having in their possession anything of interest to the Association.

Any of the articles referred to can be sent to the Association as a gift or as a loan, or they can be placed on exhibition in the Smithsonian Museum, subject to the order of the owner. Articles for deposit in the Smithsonian may be sent to the Secretary, who will return official receipts to the owners … .”

Explicit as these suggestions were, the result was dismal. At the next Reunion, Secretary Brant reported that “There has been but one contribution of historic value – a photograph album containing portraits of many men connected with the Telegraph service of bygone days … It does not seem to me that the historical feature of the Association is appreciated as it should be by its members.” Brant’s “Suggestions” were reprinted once more. They did not reappear in later Reports.

In 1905, the Old Timers met in New York City. It was reported that “A room at the headquarters hotel was set aside for an extensive exhibit of telegraph apparatus and document relics.” But something else stole the show: “A tiny telegraph key, manufactured for the occasion by J. H. Bunnell & Co., the smallest ever made, yet absolutely perfect in every detail, was the souvenir of the evening. … About 800 were thus given out, but only those seated at the [banquet] tables received these greatly prized mementos.” (Bunnell miniature keys now command high prices on Internet auctions. On the other hand, at the 1909 Reunion in Pittsburgh, the H. J. Heinz Co. presented the ladies with silver pickle forks, the market for which is unremarkable.) Also noted was a presentation to the Association of “… an insulator which was used in Canada in 1847.”

In 1912, a “piece of the earliest cable that was laid in America, in 1851” was accepted with the advice that it would be kept as a memento in the archives of the Association. The 1913 Reunion in Detroit produced an interesting anecdote. The Secretary noted that John J. Ghegan “‘has some old relics which he would like to exhibit here to the members. Mr. Ghegan:’” “‘The case I hold in my hand contains a set of miniature instruments that were made for Professor Morse by the old house of Chester, which many of you old timers remember. I came across this set of instruments last November, in the heart of Louisiana. An operator for the Postal Telegraph Co. had them in his possession. They were won by him at a raffle some fifteen years previous. At that time, they were owned by a man who was an operator for the New Orleans Times-Democrat, and who was taken sick and had to part with them to raise funds. He had won them in a similar manner some ten years before.

I have been trying to trace their history from that time, back to the time of their manufacture, but with very little progress, until I learned that a man named Dubois, who was superintendent of the Chester factory at the time these instruments were made, was still living, and that he had a son working in the factory of Mr. Fred Pearce. I called up Mr. Pearce’s son and was told [Dubois] was still living at a little town called Oceanport. As I drove through the straggling street I saw an ancient gentleman sitting on a porch, and concluded that was the man I was looking for. I drove up by the step, got out and said: ‘How do you do, Mr. Dubois?’ And the old gentleman, being quite deaf, said ‘“Eh?”’ ‘Your name is Dubois, is it not?’ And he said ‘“Yes.”’ I said ‘Wait a moment.’ I went back to the machine and brought this case and opened it. ‘“Oh,”’ he said, ‘“I know that”’ and his face lit up as if he had met some old friend. He said ‘“I helped make it.”’ After thinking awhile, he said ‘“I am ninety years old, and my memory is not so good. It was the year the first Atlantic cable was laid [1858].”’ Then I asked the circumstances as to the making, whether Professor Morse had ordered them or [if they] were presented to him. He said they were presented to him, and there was quite a celebration at the time. It was the only set of the kind that was made. What happened from that time to the time they were won at the first raffle, I do not know. The instruments are perfect. I will pass the case around.”’ [Ghegan’s narration has been shortened considerably, but the words are his. If he was successful in tracing the instruments to Louisiana, the record is silent, as it is in regard to the eventual disposition of the instruments.]

Some of the Old Timers’ favorite anecdotes concerned sending and receiving speeds. At the 1919 Reunion, a committee was formed to select each year for six years two distinguished members acknowledged to be proficient telegraphers, and to have Edison’s Orange, New Jersey Laboratory record the message for the archives. At the 1926 Reunion, the committee reported that it had fulfilled its charter, and were discharged. The records were made on an “indestructible disc,” but it is not known [by this writer] if any discs actually survived.

In the next few years, a few contributions came in to be placed in the archives. In 1923, the Old Timers’ Historian, J. B. Taltavall, reported that “Important negotiations are now pending for space for the archives of the Association.” In 1927, Donald McNicol was Historian, and reported that “the Association’s historical relics have been moved from the offices of Telegraph and Telephone Age (Taltavall was its publisher) to a showcase in the offices of J. H. Bunnell & Co., No. 32 Park Place … .” The Report notes that “procuring a permanent depository for the Association’s relics … might induce members of the Association to forward literary and apparatus relics of the telegraph in their possession and now widely scattered.” McNicol recommended that a small room in downtown New York be donated for this purpose, to be maintained through contributions and a one dollar per year assessment of the members. His proposal apparently was not acted upon. McNicol did keep an inventory of the Association’s relics, but the listings in the Reports of these years offered little detail much beyond “Round, metal base Morse telegraph sounder of the ‘60’s … relay with large coils … Rare specimen of Morse ‘hump-back’ telegraph key of the ‘60’s. …,” etc.

At the Omaha Reunion in 1928, McNicol recommended that the artifacts he had gathered (those that had not been forwarded to the Smithsonian) be combined with the Edison collection at the Engineering Societies Building on 39^th Street, New York. The Association concurred. Apparently Henry Ford had his eye on the Edison collection, and as the Ford Museum was being built, he and Thomas Edison got the Association’s Board of Directors to consent to transferring the entire collection to the Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michigan.

In 1930, at what was probably the last Reunion of the Old Timers, McNicol reported that “Whatever the Association possessed in the way of historical apparatus is on display in the Dearborn museum.” McNicol also noted that the Rosenwald Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, and the Museum of the City of New York also intended to gather “all of the historical apparatus still available.” Western Union was cited by McNicol for their cooperation, and particularly R. H. Underwood, who noted that Western Union had donated to the Ford collection, and intended to produce some replica instruments for the upcoming World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933 and other museums. Underwood also noted that “Unfortunately, the telegraph exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute [sic] in Washington has not been kept up to date but we are now cooperating with the Museum in building up an exhibit … .”

As the Old Timers acquired what they could in the way of a significant collection from a largely apathetic membership, a few Western Union employees saw a need for historical preservation. It was not until 1990, however, that a scholarly effort was made to document what survived. Robert S. Harding compiled a Register of the Western Union Telegraph Company Collection, 1848-1963, for the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Harding notes that H. W. Drake, an electrical engineer, established the Western Union Museum in 1912, collecting instruments and other apparatus and devices used for displays, advertising, and in settling patent litigation. Following the Chicago World’s Fair, the Museum was renamed the Western Union Engineering Museum, and old instruments and material were solicited from various Western Union offices nationwide. In 1969, the Museum was closed because its space was needed for offices. Some material was sent to the Smithsonian at this time; most was transferred to storage at Allentown, Pennsylvania. Finally, in 1971, what remained of the Western Union collection was donated to the Smithsonian. Harding’s compilation is a valuable guide to the impressive documentary materials held by the Smithsonian. Unfortunately, the great majority of instruments and related hardware is stored away, with no similar register available. Recently, the Institution digitally photographed many of its telegraph instruments now in storage, with the intent of making the photos available through the Internet.

What is on display in the Smithsonian and Ford exhibits is appreciated, of course, but frustrating in that only a fraction of all their respective telegraphic holdings is shown. A minor disappointment is that occasionally interpretation is in error – a sounder is labeled a relay, etc. – but in general the exhibits offer appropriate guidance, sometimes with artifacts that are found nowhere else, at least in the public domain.

There are today many private telegraph collections, some with significant and valuable material. As noted, the motivation for collecting may vary, as does the willingness of their owners to share their collections with others. A common problem, however, is the ultimate disposition of the collection. The large museums often impose restrictions in receiving a collection which may be unacceptable to the donor. A smaller organization may be eager to have a collection, but can only display or store a small portion of it. The heirs have utterly no interest in “clickers and those things you pound.” Too often, the decision is to simply sell off the collection. There are no easy answers to the question of disposition.

(A flight of fancy: it is tempting to imagine a permanent facility devoted to telegraphy. Its resources would be assembled with the help of private collectors and other donors. There are many examples of special interest museums; the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Museum in Columbia, PA; the Museum of Independent Telephony in Abilene, KS; and the Historical Electronics Museum in Baltimore, MD come to mind. The Antique Wireless Association’s Museum near Rochester, NY has an extensive collection of telegraph instruments (especially those found in wireless operations), but, understandably, telegraphy per se is not the primary interest. Reality intrudes; the financial support that would be required to establish and maintain a “telegraph museum” is nowhere in sight.)

The Old Timers fell on hard times in the Great Depression. The 1931 Reunion was cancelled, and it is believed that they never met again. The Toledo Morse Telegraph Club carried on the traditions of the Old Timers for several years, until it, too, disappeared. Now, in 2004, the Morse Telegraph Club offers a valuable medium to keep some history alive, but it has no resources to establish and control a permanent, comprehensive collection of telegraphic history.

Perhaps it is best that preservation responsibility rests largely in the hands of the Smithsonian Institution and the Ford Museum. The downside of this prospect is that telegraphy must compete with interests of much greater appeal. Couple that with the current fashion of displaying and describing artifacts “in context,” and the result can be only a partial representation of the whole. Understanding telegraphy’s historical role may be enhanced by this approach, but do the curators’ techniques such as interactive displays ( manipulating a key or twisting the handle of a messenger call box, for example) preserve telegraphic history?

Judgement in that regard is left to the professionals, but there comes to mind the “Random Notes” of one of the last Old Timers Reunions, in 1927. The anonymous author (who should be forgiven for a bit of hyperbole) wrote: “At San Francisco this year the Western Union capitalized the occasion by setting up in the Market Street window of their main office an exhibit of early telegraph instruments. The display was of interest not only to the ‘Old Timers,’ but the populace of the town at times blocked the street to get a view of a ‘Caton’ sounder or a ‘Chester’ relay. Rembrandt, Corot, nor Whistler have anything on the early designers of telegraph instruments, in the way of permanent fame.” Seems like there ought to be something worth saving.