Frequently Asked Questions

Yes.  Telegram & Cable Co. sends real Telegrams, typed on restored 1960s Teletype equipment, folded into an envelope, and mailed via the Post Office.  Worldwide, for just $9.

A Telegram starts at $9.  Optional extras include vanity postage stamps and rubber stamped envelope messages such as Confidential or Open Immediately.  There are no hidden fees and no account required.

No.  The Post Office delivers mail but does not send Telegrams.  Western Union discontinued its telegram service in 2006.  Telegram & Cable Co. is one of the few services today that sends real Telegrams, typed on original Teletype equipment and delivered by First Class mail.

A Telegram is typed on sprocket-feed fan-fold paper with a traditional telegram header design.  It arrives folded inside a matching window envelope with a postage stamp.  You can see exactly what one looks like on our Example Telegram page.

A telegram is a short message typed on paper and delivered to the recipient — historically sent by Morse code or Teletype over telegraph wires, and then hand delivered.  Today at Telegram & Cable Co. your message is typed on restored Teletype equipment and delivered by First Class mail, keeping the tradition alive.

It takes just a few minutes.  Compose your message, choose a design and postage stamp, review your order, and pay.  We type your Telegram on our restored Teletype machines and deliver it to the Post Office within one to two business days.  No account required.  Full details on our How It Works page.

We deliver your Telegram to the Post Office within one to two business days, sometimes the same day.  Postal delivery from there is typically three to five business days within the United States, and ten to twenty days internationally.  As with all First Class mail, delivery is not guaranteed or insured — once your Telegram is in the hands of the Post Office, its journey is in their hands.

Yes.  We mail Telegrams to any address in the world.  International postal delivery typically takes ten to twenty days.  We cover the additional postage for international addresses at no extra charge to you.

Your payment is processed by trusted third party payment processors — we never see or store your payment information.  As for your message, anything that travels over the Internet carries inherent risk, and we recommend not sending anything you would not want made public.  If you need to send a truly private message, our Securing Messages page explains one method for encrypting your message before sending it to us.

A Teletype is an electro-mechanical typewriter that sends and receives typed messages over telegraph lines.  Teletype machines were the backbone of telegram communication from the 1930s through the 1960s.  At Telegram & Cable Co. we use restored Teletype Machines — some over 60 years old — to type every Telegram we send, one keystroke at a time.  You can see one in action on our Example Telegram page.