To see a view scene of this, check out the opening scene of the movie "Executive Suite". A corporate executive goes into a WU office to send a telegram and it's exactly as Pat describes it. (The rest of the movie is good, too.)
In the early 1980s I visited a WU owned office in Trenton NJ. It was not attractive, but quite austere in a 1960s kind of way, no decoration, ugly flourescent lighting, linoleum floor, and glass walled unit with holes to deal with the employee who looked tired. There was one Teletype in a corner and one equipment rack frame that didn't seem to be connected to anything. Soon after it was closed and WU service handled by an contract agent in a diner outside the city.
At that time almost all business of WU was wire transfers, not personal messaging. This is the same business they do now.
I visited that office and the train station in the mid 1990s. The La Salle St station had been rebuilt. It once was the terminal for many classic trains, including the 20th Century Limited. Now it serves commuters only and looked it. It was reached by a narrow stairway and had a tiny glass waiting room at the top; whatever station building facilities it once had were gone.
The WU office across the street was similar to the one in Trenton in appearance and atmosphere. Whatever dignified decorations it once had were gone. Indeed, I think the office was actually on the side of the building; probably the original nicely furnished office was closed and space for a small office found off to the side.
Early on the companies were jointly owned. Ever since they had a friendly arrangement. You could dial Operator and ask for Western Union and you'd be connected to them. You could charge your telegram to your home phone number and it would appear on your long distance bill.
WU ended up using much of AT&T's physical plant and AT&T gave WU a big discount on service charges. I believe this was a matter of quiet policy. Accordingly to Oslin's book, AT&T hit WU hard in other ways such as TWX getting a great deal and other regulatory benefits.
When MCI came along, it demanded the same discounts that WU got. AT&T wasn't about to give MCI a break and was forced to raise the WU rates steeply. This was the final knife that killed off WU.
As mentioned, cheap long distance rates by the 1970s pretty much killed off the traditional telegram traffic. WU main business was wire transfers by individuals and some Telex. It operated a few service centers (one was near me). Basically an agent or customer would call in with a request, it would be verified and entered into the computer. The computer would then have another operator call the appropriate receiving agent to authorize the pickup. AT&T WATS lines were used. When AT&T rates went up per above, things got tough.
WU was also well unionized. A friend of mine worked at a message center and was very well paid for the work she was doing. The office was very structured, the computer counted keystrokes and errors and was part of one's productivity report. (Sadly, this is common now, but new in 1978.)
In alt.folklore computers we had discussions on the demise of WU other businesses. It tried getting into satellites, becoming a long distance provider, etc. but it didn't work out.
In the above movie mention about an executive sending a telegram to his home office, I wonder when the switch to using long distance telephone would've taken place. The executive was in a distance city, heading home, and calling a special meeting of the Board. Had he telephoned, his secretary would've had the message immediately and would've started making arrangements, where via telegram there was a delay and it was a one-way conversation. (However, part of the movie's plot dealt with the Board speculating intensely on why the meeting was called, so the one-way concept was important to this particular movie.)
It's amazing in so many old movies that vital information is telegraphed to a person rather than telephoned, even from relatively short distances. Most large railroad stations had a Western Union desks or ticket agents doubled as telegraph agents. When business people travelled, they'd wire ahead their arrival plans or that they arrived safely. Everyday people sent a postcard.
Anyway, at some point in time (1960? 1965?) long distance phone rates came down low enough that a businessman could telephone his distant office. I think in the 1954 movie the telegraph charge was about $1.00 while a person-to-person long distance phone call would've been $3-5. In 1954 a $4 differential was like $40 today. Business did make extensive use of Long Distance telephone back then and before, but for simple messages they'd wire.
I note that business people in those days made calls by name, not number. For person-to-person, charges would not start until the desired party was on the line, significant in a business atmosphere where someone might have to paged. I believe the p-to-p premium was relatively modest compared to later years. It is still offered to this day but one would pay about $2.00 or more for a call that otherwise might be 5c.
Would anyone have a telephone directory from around 1954? They usually had sample long distance charges to various points and I'm curious as to what toll charges were back then.
[public replies please][TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although I never had any employee/employer relationship with Western Union, around 1960-62 I used to hang out with a guy who was himself employed by a Western Union agent, at the old Union Bus Terminal in Hammond, Indiana. Actually, the Western Union agent in Hammond was also the bus agent; both of those were sort of expensive and losing propositions; combining them and the help required to operate both at least mitigated the expense somewhat.
The lady had three or four bus lines (Greyhound, a couple of the Trailways Bus companies, something else); she also had the Western Union agency; each and every one of them paying her 12-15 percent commission on the bus tickets she sold, the telegrams, etc. And from those proceeds she was responsible for hiring staff to run the place, both 24/7 operations of course. But since she owned the entire Bus station building, she also rented out space for a restaurant, a beauty salon, a barber shop and a few apartments, all of whom paid her rent as well. So I guess she did okay. The guy who worked for her doing the telegraph stuff was the guy I mentiond, my friend.
He told me a very interesting story once, around 1960 or so. He said that one morning he had gone over into the restaurant area to get a cup of coffee; looked around the station, and had gone back to his office since the phone was ringing. He took the call, and a lady he had seen getting off an incoming bus with a big smile on her face walked into the telegraph office area; still with a big smile on her face. She was probably 18-19 years old. She wanted to send a telegram to her parents ('they told me to be sure and let them know I got here safely as soon as I arrived') so she wanted to do that, and also asked for directions on getting to some address. That done, she then picked up her luggage and started walking down the street, still with that big smile. My friend said he thought no more about it.
He said he came to work the next morning, shortly after that this same woman came back, but this time instead of the big smile, she obviously had been crying. Her earlier smile had been so infectious, I could not help but wonder what had gone wrong to cause her to begin weeping sort of silently. She counted out some change and told me to please send a telegram for her. It simply said 'Bus leaves at 10 change in South Bend at 2 home about 6' . He said "I was curious about what had gone wrong: Had she been there for a new job and either not gotten hired or been hired then fired on her first day at work? Was she intending to meet a new boy friend who wound up being some sort of flake? Had she gotten physically hurt somehow?" But I did not dare ask her anything on it. She paid for the message and asked if she 'could sit in here and wait until the bus arrived' I told her of course, in a way hoping that she might decide to say something about it, but she did not.
And the 'company' (WUTCO) was always so strict about secrecy in communications. If they found out that _I_ had brought the matter up, well -- you know, I do not work for the 'company' (WUTCO) directly, I only work for Jim R. and his wife Lillian (the agents) but Western Union would have put all kinds of heat on _Lillian_, she would have had to fire me. The company was like that with the agents. The company ran nothing personally when it suited them, but in reality they ran _everything_ when that suited them better, if you get my drift. So I walked in back by the printers and sent out her message; I came back out in front by the counter a bit later; she looked at me with a sort of very small, faint smile, said 'thank you so much for helping me find the place yesterday; my bus is here now, goodbye' got up and left, hauling along her suitcase. PAT]