For more than 150 years, The Western Union Telegraph Company transmitted untold numbers of messages to citizens throughout the United States. Successfully harnessing the power of technology in the early 20th century, the vast majority of Western Union’s transmissions carried with them great news–messages of promotions, weddings, new babies, and birthday greetings.
But for scores of the unlucky, a Western Union telegraph brought news of the worst possible kind.
Indeed, during the years that spanned World War II, so dreaded was the telegram that it became the custom of those women and mothers who were on the receiving end to handle them only with gloves–and some went as far as using fire tongs. For those who were overwhelmed and paralyzed by fear at the prospect of reading the message contained on the pale yellow paper, the Western Union delivery boy was instructed to leave the telegraph on the table and quietly and respectfully leave the premises.
Whether they were prepared or not, during the early and mid-1940’s, countless women and mothers could not escape the worst sort of bad news contained in these telegrams.
During the 1940’s, hundreds of thousands of Western Union Telegrams were sent to U.S. wives and mothers informing them that their loved ones had been killed in the war. Because of the expense of transmission, telegrams were required to be less than 60 words.
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