Western Union Telegraph Company Messenger, circa 1885
Add to SetSummary
In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, young boys (and sometimes girls) rushed messages to and from telegraph offices. These messengers -- some as young as ten -- worked long days speeding vital information to customers' family, friends, or business associates. This young lad, dressed in a Western Union jacket and apparently holding a notepad, probably spent some of his meager earnings to have this photograph made.
In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, young boys (and sometimes girls) rushed messages to and from telegraph offices. These messengers -- some as young as ten -- worked long days speeding vital information to customers' family, friends, or business associates. This young lad, dressed in a Western Union jacket and apparently holding a notepad, probably spent some of his meager earnings to have this photograph made.
Artifact
Cabinet photograph
Subject Date
circa 1885
Keywords
Collection Title
On Exhibit
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
95.56.4
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Cardboard
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Gelatin silver process
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 6.5 in
Width: 4.25 in
Inscriptions
front: Asplund 558 Main Street Kansas City, MO.
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