Sepia Saturday - Words, words, words

Usually the term 'spreading the word' has a different meaning, certainly if the noun in this phrase is written with a capital W. But that is not my interpretation of the theme picture of this week (see at the end of this post). As you can see the word 'tele....' is written on the wall. My guess is that the full text reads something like: "Telegraph a Cablegram". 
Most of the boys/men you see are Western Union messengers and thus involved in the physical distribution of words. In most countries that profession is extinct and overtaken by short message services (SMS), email and other internet applications. However, when my mum and dad married in 's-Gravenhage (The Hague) on November 18, 1942 they received seven congratulatory telegrams. 
In those days telegrams were handled solely by state owned Dutch Postal Authority, the P.T.T. This abbreviation stood for 'Post, Telefoon, Telegraaf'. (The translation of these words won't be a problem for you. Dutch and English seem to be very close here.)
At the time a number of forms were used to present the telegram to the recipient. Of course there was the form for all purposes.

And another form for day to day use.

In case you wonder what the senders of this cable had to pay for its delivery, the P.T.T. people have been kind enough to affix a decal on the back of one of these telegrams.

It reads: "Send a telegram, quick and cheap. In the interior 10 words 25 cents" That doesn't sound too bad but you have to appreciate the fact that the stamp for an ordinary postcard was 4 cents. In other words, the cost was 6 times as high for just a few words.

Next to the standard telegraph format, there were at least two congratulatory forms.

I have to say that I find the envelope of this one (left) a bit amateurish. And the telegram itself (below) doesn't make it any better. But I don't know whether the sender was given a choice which form was to be used at destination.

The second one looks more professional. There are all kinds of symbols depicting happiness: flowers, flying birds and a girl being congratulated with her tennis victory. Also a newly married couple and next to it their future as anticipated by the Postal Authority: the happy couple with a baby in a cradle.

Apparently the postmen also catered for jubilees at work. The three drawings on the right seem to point in that direction. Doing one's duty for say 25 years calls for a cablegram as well, they must have thought.

On one of the cables I found this text in red. Among others it said that you could have your own unique cable address. (If I remember well the address of my former employer KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was TRANSAERA.) The annual maintenance fee amounted to 12 Dutch guilders. Delivery of telegrams was possible on a deluxe form. Additional cost: 25 cents for domestic delivery and 50 cents abroad. Since we are talking 1942 here I wonder whether sending a telegram was possible to any country e.g. to "enemy countries". Probably not.

Apart from these telegrams I have another 35 congratulatory letters and postcards that mark this occasion that took place 2,5 years into WW2. Fortunately the happy couple did not know that the worst was yet to come.

On October 11, 1943 the service to send congratulatory telegrams was cancelled due to a shortage of paper. In 1944 forwarding this type of telegram was cancelled altogether. 

For more postmen stories you can turn to the Sepia Saturday site. Alternatively he may call at your door. And if you didn't hear him, remember, the postman always rings twice!