© Mark Ollig
An article in New York’s Albany Evening Journal April 6, 1852, suggested using the word “telegram” as a term for “telegraphic dispatch” or “telegraphic communication.”
The article also suggested “teletype,” for which the abbreviation TTY is used.
Terms like “printing telegraph,” “teleprinter,” and “teletypewriter” would later appear.
While telegraphic printing machines existed in 1852, it took several years of improvement, including advancements in telegraphy, before their widespread use.
In 1867, Edward A. Calahan invented a stock ticker system that used a metal box-shaped device with a rotating typewheel to print stock prices onto paper tape.
The system transmitted coded electrical signals over telegraph lines and was powered by either batteries or manual magneto hand cranks.
In 1910, the Morkrum Co. installed the first commercial teletype system, transmitting financial information and news between Boston and New York via the Postal Telegraph Co.’s wire lines.
The system, called the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, featured a simplified keyboard and printed text on paper rolls.
The Associated Press (AP), founded in 1846, became an early adopter of teleprinter machines in 1914, and United Press (UP), founded in 1907, began using them in 1915.
AP and UP, both wire services, transmitted coded news updates to newspapers and radio stations using telegraph and dedicated telephone lines.
In 1921, the Morkrum Co. introduced the Model 11 type-wheel tape printer, the first commercially successful teletype machine.
In 1925, the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Co. launched the Model 14 teletype, transforming newsrooms by automating the printing process, which significantly reduced text errors.
The clattering sound of teletypewriters filled newsrooms across the country during the 1920s and 1930s as trained operators received and processed incoming news dispatches from wire services.
During this time, teletype machines were used for communication by the FBI, commercial airlines, stock brokerage firms, and wire services.
During the 1929 stock market crash, the AP and UP transmitted urgent bulletins, market overviews, and human-interest stories to newsroom teletype machines.
In 1930, the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Co., now the Teletype Corp., was purchased by the Bell System owned by AT&T and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Western Electric Corporation.
Teletypes marked a turning point in the radio news industry by establishing a direct link to wire services like AP and UP, allowing journalists to access, edit, and broadcast news over the air quickly.
During the 1940s, wireless radioteletype (RTTY) machines enabled long-distance news transmission, especially in areas without wired connections.
The Teletype Model 19 RTTY, manufactured by Teletype Corp., stood more than 3 feet tall and weighed approximately 235 pounds.
The machine featured a QWERTY keyboard, teletype keys, a printer for paper roll output, and the capability to manage paper tape for message storage and transmission at approximately 45.5 bits per second.
RTTYs were used for military and international communications.
KSTP-TV, the first commercial television station in Minnesota, began broadcasting April 27, 1948.
In 1949, the US had about 98 commercial TV stations and an estimated 2.3 million television sets in use.
In April 1950, newspaper ads listed TVs like the Motorola 12T3 and 19K2 with large wooden cabinets and 10- to 19-inch black-and-white screens. These sets cost $139.95 to $449.95, equivalent to approximately $1,860 to $5,990 today.
In 1958, United Press (UP) merged with International News Service (INS) to become United Press International (UPI).
In 1963, the Teletype Corporation launched the Model 33. It weighed around 75 pounds, operated at 100 bits per second, and could connect to emerging computer networks and telephone lines with a modem.
Teletype machines used bell rings to signal urgent news bulletins from wire services like AP and UPI, labeled as “flash,” “urgent,” or “bulletin,” to alert journalists to breaking news events.
Teletype machines across the country clattered and bells rang Nov. 22, 1963, delivering the news from Dallas, TX.
CBS television news anchor Walter Cronkite reviewed the printed teletype bulletin messages from the wire services moments before his on-air announcement.
Cronkite interrupted the television soap opera “As the World Turns,” saying, “Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, TX, three shots were fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown Dallas.”
In the CBS newsroom, reporters captured the intensity of the moment as they huddled around teletype machines, anxiously awaiting updates from wire services like AP, UPI, and Reuters.
Journalists today work on silent, internet-connected computers, a striking departure from the bustling newsrooms of yesteryear, filled with the noisy clatter of typewriters and the rhythmic hum of teletype machines – and cigarette smoke wafting in the air.
On a related note, in the 1980s, I worked with a teletypewriter terminal at the local telephone company in Winsted. This terminal was connected to the Nortel Digital Multiplex System (DMS-10) switching platform, which was the backbone of our telephone service at the time.
Today, the teletype’s legacy lives on as the unsung hero from yesterday’s newsrooms.
