Throughout the history of humanity many varied forms of communication have been used. From the very simple messages that had to be delivered physically on horseback, or through the smoke of a fire, to the world wide web and cellular technology that is now widespread. There are however still older forms of communication still available to use, mostly as a joke though. One of these forms of communication is the
singing telegrams bay area residents use around the globe.
The telegram is a method of communication that was popular throughout the 19th and 20th century. It was as popular as the telephone since before the traditional telephone was invented. Basically, what it was, was a simple, written message that was sent through various means, either a wire or a broadcast. In it's early days it was sent through Morse code.
Telegrams were for the most part seen as quite serious things, as they were often used to deliver some kind of serious news to the recipient. People usually did not use them just to chat about things, like we use our cell phones today. Singing telegrams are a more humorous way of delivering a message.
Telegrams that are sung got their start in the year of 1933. A company at that time that specialized in receiving and delivering telegrams was the first to sing one to a recipient. It was the idea of the public relations officer of that company. One day they received a telegram from a fan wishing a Hollywood star a happy birthday. The PR officer had the brilliant idea of getting the operator to sing the message to the recipient as opposed to just reading it like normal.
Because telegrams were most often associated with deaths and funerals and other such serious news, this public relations director wanted to make them fun and in doing so give them another use, which he hoped would make them more popular. However this idea of his was not well received by the company, and he was told that he had made the company a laughing stock.
This form of telegram is in fact the only part of the telegram legacy that is left today. With telephones replacing them in the 1960's they became obsolete fast, So the only telegrams that were being delivered from then on were way more humorous and done in person as opposed to how they were delivered before.
Nowadays there are many different private companies all over the world that offer this telegram service, as it is still very popular. Instead of a telephone delivery it is now delivered in person, making it much more theatrical. The messenger is required to dress up, usually along the theme of what the message is of and it is sung to the recipient personally. There are other options however, a popular way of doing it is to burn the whole performance onto a dvd and send it to the person, if they cannot be contacted through the traditional means or are in another country.
Being one of the oldest forms of communication, sending a telegram now means a very different thing than what it meant years ago. It is virtually unrecognizable from what it originally was. Instead of serious it is humorous, and instead of being delivered over long distances it is now delivered in person, usually.