Lucy Burroughs answered
Communication is quick and easy in the 21st century – we can text, call, email and instant message each other without much effort at all!
Things haven’t always been this easy, though. Before the telephone was invented in 1876, people had to wait days to get messages to each other – sometimes even weeks!
How Did People Communicate Before The Telephone Was Invented?
Things haven’t always been this easy, though. Before the telephone was invented in 1876, people had to wait days to get messages to each other – sometimes even weeks!
How Did People Communicate Before The Telephone Was Invented?
- By post – people would write letters to friends in other cities, and would have to wait days for a reply.
- In person – if your friend lived down the street, you’d have to go and visit them each time you wanted to tell them something. Obviously, this would be much harder if they lived several hours away!
- By telegraph machine – most people wouldn’t actually own one of these, but important people and companies would have sent messages to each other using Morse code and a telegraph machine.
- By carrier pigeon – messages would be attached to the feet of homing pigeons, and you’d just have to hope that they didn’t get lost, injured or distracted! Carrier pigeons were used during both world wars, and are the real-world equivalent of the owls used in Harry Potter.
- On horseback – messengers on horseback would be paid to deliver messages across the country. This was quicker than using the postal service, but also more expensive.
