Inside Western Union

Recalling the days before the advent of the internet and social media, when rapid written communication came not electronically, but electromechanically, Inside Western Union is a nostalgic collection of anecdotes by Mike Rivise, an experienced sales manager. In this fascinating book, first published in 1950, the author draws on his own experiences to with many tales of demanding customers who expected the most from their messenger boys, recalls stories of coded messages used to minimize word counts, and provides accounts of crooks that tried to wire the loot across town for later pick up. Rivise also includes details of the history of the Western Union company, including its early takeover by financier Jay Gould in 1881, its acquisition by American Telephone and Telegraph in 1909 following Gould's death, the arrival of the competing service Postal Telegraph, and the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. B. Morse, which revolutionised communication. An invaluable read!