The object for November is the telegraph.

Samuel F. B. Morse, an American artist, invented the first practical telegraph and a code that bears his name. In 1844 Morse's system was put into public use. His invention was revolutionary. For the first time, messages could be transmitted instantaneously over long distances. A huge telegraph industry grew worldwide, and many improvements were made. The Teletype, for example, allowed a typewriter-type device to be used to transmit words. A Teletype was used for the telegram shown above.

People would go to the telegraph station and write out a "wire" that they wanted to send. The telegrapher would take the message and send it. At the other end, another telegrapher would receive the message, write or print it, and dispatch a messenger to deliver the "wire" by hand.

After World War II, new technology replaced the telegraph. Satellite and fibre optic networks made wire strung on poles or lying on the ocean bottom obsolete. The fax machine and Internet finished off the telegraph and telegram for good.

For more information on telegraphs and telegraphy, visit the following web site:
http://www.metronet.com/~nmcewen/ref.html