A REAL TELEGRAM FROM 1962
This is an explanation of the components of the message. How it was created and what happened from origin to destination. Automatic operators know all this. The explanation is intended to help the uninitiated. This message was received at the Rochester, NY office.First line: "1150A EST JAN 5 62 SYD077"
The time and date was created and transmitted from the Syracuse reperf center when the message was transmitted to Rochester. SYD077 -- "SY" = Syracuse office call, "D" = the channel letter "077" = message number 077 from Syracuse to Rochester on D channel that day.Second Line: "SY POA009 CGN NL PD POTSDAM NY 5"
SY POA009 -- "SY" = Syracuse office call, "PO" = Potsdam, NY office call, "A" = channel letter "009" message number 009 from Potsdam to Syracuse on A channel that day.
CGN = Congratulations indicator. If this message were to be received on a tape printer terminal, a special congratulations blank would be used to gum the message to the special receiving blank. NL = Night Letter, an overnight service with delivery the next business day. PD = a Prepaid message. POTSDAM NY = The originating city and state. 5 = The calendar day of the month. The originating operator transmitted an equal sign after the date 5. The message was received in Rochester on a "burster" page printer. Equipment in the Syracuse reperf office translated the equal sign to a carriage return and line feed to advance the receiving form one line. if the message were to be received on a tape printer terminal, the equal sign would print as an indicator for the receiving operator to start a new line.
Third line: Addressee -- called "name to" followed by an equal sign (not visible) which caused the form to be advanced one line.
Fourth line: Address -- indented two spaces by the Syracuse reperf equipment. Because the address line exceed the maximum line length of 69 characters, the address was continued on the next line. The address line was ended with an equal sign which caused the Syracuse reperf office to send a carriage return and line feed.
Next line: Text. Text continues until an equal sign is encountered. At that time, the form is advanced one line, indented two spaces and the signature is printed. At the end of the signature, two sequential periods are transmitted from the sending office. This indicates "end of message." The reperf office then sends enough additional line feeds to equal a total of 22 lines. At that time, the top of the form reaches a wringer type device which is activated, tearing the form loose from the next form. The wringer device sends the form to a chute in back of the printer where the message is retrieved. Should the message be lengthy requiring two or more forms, each will contain only 22 lines of information. Succeeding pages are identified by a serial number printed on the reverse side of the message blank.
Subsequent handling: The receiving operator checked the message for possible obvious errors. Because the message was ok, it's number was marked off on a receiving number sheet and time stamped (1962 JAN 5 AM 11 57). This indicated a total of 7 minutes had elapsed from the time the Syracuse reperf office started transmission until the receiving operator released the message for further handling. The receiving operator placed the message in a V belt which carried the message to a collector at the end of the aisle. A route aide retrieved the message and carried it to the route desk. The route clerk at that desk determined the message was for physical delivery. The message was placed in a carrier and sent by pneumatic tube to the delivery department, three floors below. Upon arrival at the delivery department, the message was time stamped on the reverse side. The time stamp read "DLY ROCHESTER NY 1962 JAN 5 AM 11 57." The delivery clerk noted the message was a Night Letter and filed it with other Night Letter message for handling the next morning.
The next morning, the delivery clerk noted the address "Scottsville NY" (a Rochester suburb) outside of their normal delivery district. The delivery clerk time stamped the message on the reverse side "DLY ROCHESTER NY 1962 JAN 6 AM 8 20." The message was returned to the traffic department three floors above via pneumatic tube. The route clerk removed the message from the tube, placed the message in a "drag belt" that ran from the route desk to the telephone room, a distance of more than 100 feet. A clerk in the telephone room searched their telephone directories and Criss-Cross directories for an "in city" address. A telephone number of FA8 8941 was marked on the message. At 8 25 AM, operator DB marked the message with an in city address of 340 Thurston Road (the groom's mother's address). The message was marked to be delivered and to be delivered before noon. The message was placed in the "drag belt" for return to the traffic department route desk. The route clerk placed the message in the pneumatic tube once more and returned it to the delivery department three floors below. The message was then placed in an envelope and physically delivered to the Thurston Road address.
Rear of telegram is at left, delivery envelope is at right.
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