Before telephones, before radio, before anything "wireless" existed, it was the telegraph that made swift, global communication a reality. If you wanted a message to reach someone in another part of the country or the world that very day, you "sent a wire." This section looks at the development of the telegraph itself, the process of laying cables for transmissions across the country and across the oceans, and the work of the telegraph operator.

The Electric Telegraph, by Sir Francis Head (Illustrated London Reading Book, 1850)

The Electric Telegraph (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

The Progress of the Electric Telegraph (Atlantic Monthly, 1865)

A Conversazione of Telegraph Engineers (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

A look into the migratory life of the telegraph engineer employed by the submarine companies.

On Submarine Telegraph Service, by J. Munro (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Six Months in a School of Telegraphy (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

The Cable to the Cape, by J. Munro (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

Setting up an undersea telegraph cable to the Cape of Good Hope.

Edison's System of Fast Telegraphy (Scribners, 1879B)

The Writing Telegraph (Scribner's, 1879B)

A telegraph capable of transmitting handwriting.

The Story of Atlantic Telegraphy (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

The Story of the First News Message Ever Sent by Telegraph (Century Magazine, 1888B)

It came from the 1844 Whig presidential convention in Baltimore...

Cablegrams for the Million, by J. Henniker Heaton, MP (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1896)

A look at telegraph technologies of the day, with predictions of what this might lead to in the future.

Telegraph Systems of the World (Windsor Magazine, 1896A)

"The story of the nerves of our commercial life." Even then, businesses aimed for "lightning speed" in communications!

Making and Laying an Atlantic Cable, by Roland Belfort (Windsor, 1897A)

The New Telegraphy: An Interview with Signor Marconi, by H.J.W. Dam (The Strand, 1897A)

Submarine Cable Laying, by Archer Philip Crouch (The Strand, 1898B)

Marconi's Achievement: Telegraphing Across the Ocean Without Wires, by Ray Stannard Baker (Windsor Magazine, 1902A)

On Board a Cable Hospital, by A. Wallis Myers (Windsor Magazine, 1902A)

Aboard a transatlantic-cable-repairing ship belonging to the Anglo-American Telegraph Company.