Long before the days of iPhones and Skype, telegrams were used to carry messages across great distances in a relatively short amount of time.
These brief missives (see definition and hear pronunciation below) ushered in the modern era of rapid communication.
Telegrams were used to send both personal messages and to convey important or urgent information, much as social media is used to instantaneously break news today.
Telegrams were often sent to government officials, including the president of the United States. The telegram pictured here was sent to President John F. Kennedy by the film star Harpo Marx in 1960.
Cool word question of the day: If you want to send a missive quickly, what’s your favorite method of communication?
Missive: A letter or other written message.
Click here to hear a pronunciation of missive.
https://coolwordclub.com/wp-content/uploads/missive.mp3