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82-578: At least a dozen associate companies were chartered, but despite initial optimism and ambitious goals, only two systems ever went into commercial operation — one based in Newark, New Jersey (New Jersey Telephone Herald, 1911-1912) and the other in Portland, Oregon (Oregon Telephone Herald, 1912-1913). Moreover, both of these systems were shut down after operating for only a short time, due to economic and technical issues. Corporation activity peaked in 1913, but

164-601: A December 15, 1912 advertisement for the Central California Telephone Herald listed associate Telephone Herald companies with company names located at New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle-Tacoma, Columbia (British Columbia and Alberta, Canada), Los Angeles and Oakland, but there is no information for these either. Of the two Telephone Herald affiliates which launched commercial services, the New Jersey Telephone Herald

246-518: A concert from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM. Thursdays featured a concert for children at 6:00 PM. W. G. Fitz-Gerald stated the following schedule for a day's typical programme in 1907: In addition, special lectures or concerts for children were given once a week, and information for all the principal Hungarian and Austrian horse races was reported as soon as the results were known. The Telefon Hírmondó news collection practices closely followed those commonly employed by print newspapers. A reporter would compose

328-551: A network that divided Budapest into twenty-seven districts. Starting with 43 miles (69 km) of wire, the systems expanded to 372 miles (599 km) in 1901, and 1,100 miles (1,800 km) in 1907. Twenty-seven copper wires ran from microphone receivers in the Opera House to the central office, where the current would pass through a patented device that increased the sound. A main wire ran to each district, with branch wires to individual houses. The distribution to subscribers

410-510: A single earphone. A loud buzzer, strong enough to be heard throughout a room even when the subscriber's receivers were not currently being listened to, was used to draw attention to important announcements. The American author Thomas Denison, who visited Budapest in 1901, found that transmission of spoken news was "highly satisfactory", but the audio quality for musical programmes, whether vocal or instrumental, "still leaves something to be desired". Subscribers received programme listings, reviewing

492-438: A story and submit it to the chief, who would sign it to fix responsibility. A clerk would then carefully copy the text with lithographic ink onto long galley slips which were transferred to a lithography stone, to be printed in parallel columns 6 inches wide and two feet long (16 cm x 60 cm). Then, two pressmen would take a number of impressions on a roller-movement hand press, using common printing paper. Each sheet

574-513: A telephone newspaper". Additional patents were received internationally, including a Canadian grant, issued in 1893, which characterized the invention as a "Telephonic News Dispenser". Initially the Telefon Hírmondó used telephone lines provided by the local telephone company to distribute its programmes. It later received permission to string its own lines, and, under the guidance of its technical director, Nándor Szmazsenka, constructed

656-921: A three-volume series of children's mysteries, published by A. L. Burt. His granddaughter, Leslie Garis, wrote a more revealing Garis family memoir, The House of Happy Endings (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007). Written under Howard R. Garis, and published by Bradley Written under the pen name Lester Chadwick Originally released as Two Wild Cherries ; re-released as The Dick and Janet Cherry series; as Howard R. Garis (This series later released under alternative titles by McLoughlin, and book order changed) as Howard R. Garis (This series later released under alternative titles by McLoughlin) as Howard R. Garis as Howard R. Garis as by Howard R. Garis Volumes 1 and 2 initially published by Chatterton-Peck. Volumes 1 through 6 issued by Grosset & Dunlap. Volumes 6 and 7 issued by Garden City Publishing (in paperback only) Volume 1 through 6 retitled and issued by George Sully as

738-533: A voice telling about world events", moreover, "It was such a novelty that I could scarcely wait to get home from school and listen to it. It fascinated me. I would listen as long as it was operative, or until I was called to do my homework." One of the program features was a series of original "Trippertrot" stories, written by local children's author Howard R. Garis , which were later assembled into two book collections: Three Little Trippertrots and Three Little Trippertrots on Their Travels , published in 1912. Despite

820-722: Is no additional information, other than the fact that its corporation charter was repealed on January 24, 1916. The company was incorporated in California. Demonstrations were made at H. C. Capwell Company's Store beginning in February 1913 which lasted through at least April. The original corporate offices were at 303-304-305 Union Savings Bank Building in Oakland. A later incorporation, by C. F. Homer (president), Charles Smith (treasurer) and B. F. Hews (editor), at 1751 Franklin Street,

902-611: The Newark Evening News . He did some work on the side for WNJR also in Newark. The first Uncle Wiggily story appeared January 10, 1910, in the Newark News . For almost four decades the newspaper published an Uncle Wiggily story by Garis every day except Sunday, and the series was eventually nationally syndicated. By the time Garis retired from the newspaper in 1947, he had written more than 11,000 Uncle Wiggily stories. In 1916 Milton Bradley began selling

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984-527: The Austro-Hungarian Empire had to be authorized by the government. The contemporary press laws did not apply to a telephone newspaper, and government officials were wary that the Telefon Hírmondó could develop into an "important tool of power", as it could potentially be used to quickly spread strategic, political, and social information. The Telefon Hírmondó had started operations based on an informal verbal approval, to demonstrate that

1066-759: The Automatic Electric Company's Musolaphone , which operated a short-lived entertainment system in Chicago in 1913. However, these efforts were no more successful than the Telephone Herald companies. Both the Hungarian Telefon Hírmondó and the Italian Araldo Telefonico survived long enough for their operations to be combined with radio broadcasting in the 1920s. The same did not occur in

1148-696: The Bobbsey Twins ; as Clarence Young , the Motor Boys series; as Lester Chadwick , the Baseball Joe series; and as Marion Davidson , a number of books including several featuring the Camp Fire Girls . The couple's children also wrote for Stratemeyer. After Edward Stratemeyer's death in May 1930, his two daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (1892–1982) and Edna C. Squier (1895–1974), ran

1230-472: The Telefon Hírmondó from consideration, explaining that "we prefer to restrict ourselves to radio broadcasting". Andrew Orlowski has called the Telefon Hírmondó service "a historical antecedent" of the WAP and mobile data services . Carolyn Marvin states that Telefon Hírmondó can be seen as a "proto-broadcasting system", and An Nguyen notes that it might also fit into the definition of online news as

1312-568: The Telefon Hírmondó was the first service to electronically deliver a wide range of spoken and musical programming to a diverse audience. Although its inventor envisioned that the technology could be eventually expanded to serve a national or international audience, the technical limitations of the time ultimately limited its service area to just the city of Budapest. The Telefon Hírmondó was founded by Tivadar Puskás (a few reviews translated his name as "Theodore Buschgasch"), an engineer and inventor who had worked with Thomas Edison . In view of

1394-565: The Uncle Wiggily Game . In 1987 Parker Brothers bought the rights to the board game and produced it for many years. As of 2018 Winning Moves was manufacturing the Uncle Wiggily Game . Garis wrote many books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate under various pseudonyms. As Victor Appleton , he wrote about the enterprising Tom Swift ; as Laura Lee Hope , he is generally credited with writing volumes 4–28 and 41 of

1476-477: The "telectrophone", was relaunched in November, however, this would only be a temporary respite, and the telephone newspaper transmissions shut down for good at the end of the year. A later review suggested that the primary issue was technical, as the twisted pair phone lines used for the Newark operation had different electrical characteristics than the wiring used by the original Telefon Hírmondó plant. Following

1558-492: The April 1901 issue of The World's Work : The paper is so well known and has accomplished so much that it appears to be beyond the stage of experiment so far as Budapest is concerned. One strong point in its favor is its early reports. In this respect the paper has a strong hold, for it is able to issue an "extra" at any hour of the day. Moreover, invalids and busy people may get as much news as they want with little effort. Indeed,

1640-478: The Essex Building on Clinton Street in Newark. Condit S. Atkinson, who had extensive newspaper experience, headed the service's news department. The company reported that there were many persons eager to sign up with the innovative service, and it soon had more potential subscribers than could be supported. One young listener later remembered that "it was a great thrill to pick up the small receiver and hear

1722-747: The New Jersey Telephone Herald Company, located in Newark, New Jersey , from 1911 to 1912, and the Oregon Telephone Herald Company, located in Portland, Oregon , during 1912-1913. There have been varying opinions whether the Telefon Hírmondó should be considered the first "broadcasting" operation, in part due to differing definitions of the term, including semantic differences, involving issues such as audience size, geographic coverage, and whether

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1804-523: The Portland Hotel advertised that diners could listen to "the latest baseball, business and other news by Telephone-Herald" with their meals. There appears to have been a company reorganization in early 1913, and in March two representatives from the parent company, including chief electrical engineer Árpád Németh, were reported in town to give technical advice. But as with its New Jersey predecessor,

1886-475: The Portland enterprise was in trouble. During the summer, Oregon Corporation Commissioner R. A. Watson stepped in, and, under provisions of the state's "Blue Sky Law", barred the Oregon Telephone Herald from doing business, stating that "There was no question about the honesty of this concern, but the scheme isn't practical, and while it might be popular for a short time it would be a failure in

1968-469: The United States, and the Telephone Herald companies were the last early effort to offer nationwide audio programming over telephone lines. Although the concept of home audio entertainment was attractive to potential U.S. subscribers, the lack of signal amplification and other technical limitations, such as the need to maintain a telephone line infrastructure, and having to listen over headphones, made

2050-619: The Young Reporter Series circa 1918. as Howard R. Garis. Published by Graham & Matlack, New York. Compilations of stories originally read over the New Jersey Telephone Herald entertainment service. as Howard R. Garis Published by R. F. Fenno This series of children's books was written by Garis beginning in 1910. Each volume contains 31 stories, one for each day of the month: as Howard R. Garis; Published by Cupples & Leon, illustrated by Julia Greene as Howard R. Garis. Cupples & Leon published this series about

2132-558: The afternoon hours. Reports of the Reichsrath and political news were given at 11:45 AM to 12:00 PM; when the Reichsrath was not in session, this period was filled by fuller reports of general and foreign news. At 1:30 PM and 6:00 PM a brief summary of news was provided. 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM was filled by concerts, varied by literary criticism, sporting events etc. On Sundays there were special items: news from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM, and

2214-514: The company charter was declared forfeited and repealed for non-payment of taxes in February 1915. Incorporated in California in February 1912 by C. J. Ward, F. W. Bresse and S. H. Whisner. Demonstrations were begun on April 1, 1912 from 4th Floor of the Elks' Building. In late 1913, provisions were made to lease a local theater, the Diepenbrock, to serve as a source for programming. However, there

2296-556: The company, with the result that Garis stopped writing for the Syndicate in 1933 after several disagreements. Garis moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in 1950, and died there in 1962. Garis' son, Roger Garis , penned a biography of the writing Garis family My Father Was Uncle Wiggily (McGraw-Hill, 1966), as well as writing several books under his own name and pseudonyms, including a four-volume series of children's adventures/mysteries for A. L. Burt . His daughter, Cleo F. also wrote

2378-709: The content was delivered over a point-to-point communication network only to selected users. Using news, literary and musical pieces that were transmitted through Telefon Hirmondó in 1897, Első Pesti Egyetemi Rádió, a Budapest based university station, for the first time, reconstructed a full "broadcast day". It was transmitted live via telephone from the same room where Telefon Hirmondó operated. "Le Journal Téléphonique de Budapest: L'ancêtre de la Radio" (in French) by Jules Erdoess, Radiodiffusion , number 3, October 1936. Howard R. Garis Howard Roger Garis ( ( 1873-04-25 ) April 25, 1873 – ( 1962-11-06 ) November 6, 1962)

2460-529: The day four stentors announced during rotating shifts of 15 minutes each, and did staff work when they were not announcing. An ambitious daily service, closely patterned after the Telefon Hírmondó, was launched in October 1911, transmitting to fifty receivers located in a department store waiting room plus five hundred Newark homes. The company's central offices, studio, and switch rooms were located in

2542-430: The day's schedule, that could be posted on the wall above their receivers. The "newspaper issue" began with a news bulletin and newspaper article summaries. The afternoon schedule comprised "short entertaining stories", "sporting intelligence", and "filler items" of various kinds. There were hourly news summaries for those who had missed the earlier bulletins. The evening schedule consisted of theatrical offerings, visits to

United States Telephone Herald Company - Misplaced Pages Continue

2624-421: The day, followed by instruction and entertainment during the evening. This "news-teller" service began operation in February 1893, shortly before the death of its inventor, Tivadar Puskás . Following a visit to Hungary, Cornelius Balassa procured the U.S. patent rights to the Telefon Hírmondó technology. (Later reports state that the company also held the rights for Canada and Great Britain. Another group obtained

2706-409: The end of four months and eight months respectively. Short advertising messages were sandwiched between two interesting news items, so that they would command special attention. In 1901, advertisers were charged one krone for a twelve-second message. The system also experimented with coin-operated receivers located in public places, that took 20- Fillér coins. In the 1920s, the company was granted

2788-702: The end; therefore, we refused them a permit to sell stock." The final advertisements for the company appeared in June 1913, and the state corporation charter was terminated on January 16, 1917, for failure to file statements or pay fees for two years. None of the other ten Telephone Herald associate companies launched their proposed telephone newspaper systems, although there were widely varying levels of plans and activities. Incorporated in Massachusetts on April 23, 1913, by Ladislaus de Doory (president), John M. Grosvenor, Jr. (treasurer), and Jesse W. Morton. De Doory

2870-573: The enthusiastic response, the company soon ran into serious technical and financial difficulties. Due to a revenue crisis, which resulted in employees walking off the job due to missed paychecks, the service was suspended in late February 1912. A replenishment of funding resulted in a temporary revival in late May, with the primary company officials now consisting of Percy Pyne (president), William E. Gunn (vice-president and general manager), and C. E. Danforth (secretary-treasurer), with C. S. Atkinson renewing his editor functions. The service, now calling itself

2952-662: The equipment, and broadened the range of the programmes. In October 1894, the offices were moved to 22 Kerepesi street, with Emile von Szveties acting as the technical director. The company constructed its own one-way telephone network, independent of the local telephone company, to provide a continuous service to subscribers. In 1892, Puskás patented, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a telephone switchboard that included relay equipment used to simultaneously transmit telephonic sounds to multiple locations, describing his invention as "A new method of organizing and fitting

3034-490: The ever-increasing pace of living, especially in major cities, Puskás recognized that daily newspapers, even with multiple editions, could no longer effectively keep up with developing events. He decided that this problem could be rectified through the introduction of a regularly updated audio news source. Initially, the Telefon Hírmondó editorial office was located near Astoria , at 6 Magyar Street. The system began operating on 15 February 1893 with around 60 subscribers, and

3116-626: The governmental authorization conditions. The permission to operate included the provision that the Telefon Hírmondó staff would write down the news reports in advance and have them signed by both the manager and the announcer, with copies of the pages sent three times daily to the Budapest Royal Prosecutor and the Budapest Police Department, plus the next day to the concerned ministries. Popper created The Telefonhírmondó Joint stock company , modernized

3198-488: The grounds that their charter did not permit it. It required a ruling by the Public Utility Commission to compel the telephone company to provide the needed wires. The hiring process for the stentors, who worked as the news readers, was competitive and rigorous. According to one of the original stentors, the position was restricted to "college men" with strong voices and extensive vocabularies. Throughout

3280-472: The history of the Telefon Hírmondó stated that the service's introduction qualified as "the first broadcasting". In 1967, reviewing the history of organized distributed audio in general, David L. Woods concluded that "The Telephonic Newspaper of Budapest marked the first regular 'broadcasting' operation." However, a 1977 analysis of "broadcasting's oldest stations" by Joseph E. Baudino and John M. Kittross discounted Woods' conclusion, and explicitly eliminated

3362-565: The idea was practical. After two weeks of successful operation, on 2 March 1893 Puskás sent a letter to Béla Lukács, the Hungarian Minister of Trade, requesting formal authorization to run his "newspaper", under the provisions of the Act No. XXXXI of 1888. Included was a request to be assigned 50 years of exclusive rights for operation within the city of Budapest, although the government was eventually unwilling to approve this portion of

United States Telephone Herald Company - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-528: The lack of success caused the company to suspend operations, and the corporation charter for the United States Telephone Herald Company was repealed in early 1918. The United States Telephone Herald Company was an authorized offshoot of the Telefon Hírmondó audio service of Budapest, Hungary. The Telefon Hírmondó programming, transmitted to subscribers over telephone wires, consisted of an extensive selection of news during

3526-764: The notable subscribers included the Emperor Francis Joseph , the prime minister Baron Banffy , all the other members of the Hungarian Cabinet, Hungarian author Mór Jókai , and the Mayor of Budapest . The Telefon Hírmondó appealed strongly to the more intellectual classes. The principal hotels in the city also subscribed to the service, and their guests were free to use the instrument. The service could also be found in other places, including doctors' waiting rooms, barber shops, cafes, restaurants, and dentists' parlours. Thomas S. Denison wrote in

3608-552: The opera, poetry readings, concerts, lectures (including repeats of Academy lectures by notable literary figures), and linguistic lessons (in English, Italian and French). Thomas S. Denison wrote in 1901 that the service began transmitting at 10:30 AM, and generally ended at about 10:30 PM, although it ran later in the case of a concert or some other night event. Stock exchange quotations were transmitted from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM, 11:00 AM to 11:15 AM, 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM, and again in

3690-443: The operation's profits. Because the initial design had subscribers using their existing telephones to call the Telefon Hírmondó , there was a question as to how much the telephone company should be compensated for the use of its lines. While these negotiations were ongoing, Albert Puskás sold the Telefon Hírmondó , along with the associated patent rights, to a local engineer, István Popper. Effective 26 September 1894, Popper accepted

3772-722: The parent company was reorganized as the "United States Telephone Herald Company", now operating as a Delaware-chartered corporation. An initial demonstration transmission was given at the company headquarters, located at 110 West Thirty-fourth Street in New York City, in early September 1910. The equipment used was similar to that which was employed in Budapest. As in Hungary, announcers were called " stentors ", and because vacuum tube technology had not been developed yet, there were limited methods for amplification, so to compensate

3854-652: The permanent suspension of services, the New Jersey Telephone Herald's business charter was declared null and void on January 18, 1916. Although less well known than the New Jersey affiliate, the second Telephone Herald company to implement an ongoing telephone newspaper service was the Oregon Telephone Herald Company . But like its predecessor, it also soon faced financial difficulties and was short-lived. The company

3936-414: The plan has so many advantages, that we shall probably soon see it in operation on this side of the ocean, with the improvements that Yankee ingenuity will be sure to devise. In 1901, the expenses of the newspaper ranged between 9,000 and 10,000 krones per month (a krone was about 42 U.S. cents at that time). The fixed charges (telegrams, salaries, rent etc.) were about 7000 krones a month, and varied with

4018-467: The public. It is the delight of women and children, and is a real entertainment to the sick in their homes, to patients in hospitals, the blind, and all those who have neither time nor money to go to theater, concert, or opera. — W. G. Fitz-Gerald, Scientific American 1907. Telefon Hírmondó began operations in 1893 with 60 subscribers, a total that grew to 700 in 1894, 4915 in 1895, 7629 in 1899, around 6200 in 1901, and 15,000 by 1907. Some of

4100-415: The request. Tividar Puskás died on 16 March 1893, just one month after the Telefon Hírmondó had been launched. His brother, Albert Puskás, took over responsibility for the service, moved the center of operations to 24 Ersébet street, and resumed talks with the government for the formal operating authorization. Included in these discussions were any fees that should be paid to the government, plus limits on

4182-478: The right to establish the first radio broadcasting station in Budapest, which began operating on 1 December 1925. The combined operations were now known as the Magyar Telefon Hirmondó és Rádió . The services were offered in parallel for some time, both on radio waves and telephone wires. By 1930, Telefon Hírmondó had started other services, and it had 91,079 subscribers. During World War II ,

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4264-436: The rights for Italy, where in 1910 they established the service under the name Araldo Telefonico ). The formation of a parent U.S. company, initially operating under a New York state charter as the "Telephone Newspaper Company of America", was announced in October 1909, with organizing directors Manley M. Gillam (president), William H. Alexander (secretary and treasurer), and Cornelius Balassa, all of New York City. In March 1910,

4346-432: The seasons. The annual subscription price of the service was 18 krones (the price of 10 kg sugar or 20 kg coffee in Budapest at that time). A receiver would be put into the subscriber's house at the company's expense. The subscriber was obliged to give security for a year's subscription, one-third of which had to be paid when the equipment was ready for use. The balance had to be paid in two equal installments, at

4428-462: The service as the "Te-Lec-Tro-Phone", and in April saw the introduction of the reporting of local Portland Beavers baseball games. (In December, a Northwestern League representative complained that the service had hurt attendance, and supported "the ousting of the various telephone herald and signalling systems from the ball parks"). A promotion the following month offered the chance to hear election results for free at twenty-five business sites. In May,

4510-467: The stentors had to speak as loudly as possible into oversized dual-microphones. The lack of amplification also meant that subscribers needed to listen through headphones instead of loudspeakers. On February 14, 1911 U.S. patent 984,235 , describing "a telephone system... adapted for supplying innumerable subscribers... general news, musical compositions, and operas, sermons, correct or standard time and other happenings at stated intervals of day and night"

4592-497: The summer. The staff consisted of a business manager, an editor-in-chief, four assistant editors, and nine reporters. The only ladies among the staff were those who sang in the concerts. At this time the service employed six stentors in the winter: four for duty, and two for alternates. Due to the effort required to speak loudly into the transmitters, readers took turns of ten minutes each. The stentors had strong and clear voices with distinct articulation to maintain clarity of sound over

4674-594: The technology unprofitable. Less than a decade after the failure of the Telephone Herald companies, radio broadcasting was developed, which had the significant advantage that it could dispense with the need to use telephone lines. Moreover, radio programming could be provided free of subscription fees, because selling airtime to advertisers, the financing method most commonly adopted in the United States, provided sufficient revenue for ongoing operations. Telefon H%C3%ADrmond%C3%B3 The Telefon Hírmondó (also Telefonhírmondó , generally translated as "Telephone Herald")

4756-488: The telephone lines. In the summer, four stentors sufficed. In cases where only two stentors were on duty, they took turns of half an hour maximum. By 1907, the system had a staff of over two hundred people, including two business managers, two principal editors, six sub-editors, twelve reporters, and eight stentors. The "Telefon-Hirmondo" has proved a real boon to this great city. For one thing it gives news of great importance far sooner than any printed daily can put it before

4838-467: The transmission is by wire or wireless. Another factor is the ongoing evolution of the technologies used for the electronic distribution of news and entertainment, including the introduction of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s, followed by wired systems such as cable TV, and still later by hybrid approaches including audio streaming over the Internet. A 1929 Chicago Daily News article that reviewed

4920-539: The wire network was destroyed, resulting in the cessation of telephone news services. The Telefon Hírmondó' s technology was patented in a number of countries, and in 1910 the rights to its use was licensed for the establishment of the Araldo Telefonico (Italian for "Telephone Herald") in Rome, Italy . By 1914 Araldo Telefonico surpassed 1300 subscribers. The service was interrupted during World War I , and

5002-488: Was a " telephone newspaper " located in Budapest, Hungary , which, beginning in 1893, provided news and entertainment to subscribers over telephone lines. It was both the first and the longest surviving telephone newspaper system, although from 1 December 1925 until its termination in 1944 it was primarily used to retransmit programmes broadcast by Magyar Rádió . Three decades before the development of radio broadcasting,

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5084-773: Was also a promoter with the parent company. However, the syndicate does not appear to have made any demonstrations or other significant development, and its business charter was dissolved on February 21, 1916. This was the first of two companies that were headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company received a California business charter in February 1911, issued to G. S. Holbrook, W. A. Whelan, W. B. Heckmann, A. H. Vorrath, R. M. Graham, R. Boreman, William T. Newverth, A. C. Gould and A. Jacoby. Demonstrations were conducted in September 1911 at 821, 822, 823 Head Building, but no further progress appears to have been made, and

5166-477: Was an American author, best known for a series of books that featured the character of Uncle Wiggily Longears , an engaging elderly rabbit. Many of his books were illustrated by Lansing Campbell . Garis and his wife, Lilian Garis , were possibly the most prolific children's authors of the early 20th century. Garis was born in Binghamton, New York . He and his spouse Lilian Garis both worked as reporters for

5248-757: Was an abrupt change of plans, and instead the owners decided to merge their operations with the Pacific Telephone Herald Company. The telephone newspaper service never became operational, either before or after the Pacific Telephone Herald merger. The company's charter was declared forfeited and repealed for non-payment of taxes in February 1915. This company was chartered in Delaware in August 1912 by R. R. Cooling, C. J. Jacobs and H. W. Davis of Wilmington, Delaware. There

5330-481: Was both the first and most publicized. The company had been incorporated in October 1910 in the state of New Jersey by Eugene Gorenflo, Duncan McIsaac and Nicholas J. Surgess. The original plan was to begin operations in March 1911, however, the New York Telephone Company, which operated the Newark telephone system franchise, initially refused to lease telephone lines to the Telephone Herald, on

5412-566: Was dismissed on November 5, 1913 after the two sides reached a settlement. In November 1913, a major expansion was announced, with the purchase from the parent company of the rights to operate in twenty-one western U.S. states and "the greater part of southwestern Canada", and the next month saw a merger with the Central California Telephone Herald Company of Sacramento. But despite the ambitious expansion plans, it does not appear that any regular service

5494-669: Was established by local owners operating under a state-granted business charter. Publicity for these services commonly stated that the telephone newspaper subscriptions would cost 5 cents a day. (For comparison, at this time a copy of the daily Oregonian newspaper in Portland also cost 5 cents.) However, a majority of the associate companies got no further than the promotion or demonstration stages. In addition to twelve known associate companies, early company publicity stated that installations would also be set up in Chicago, Scranton, Pennsylvania and Montreal, Canada, but systems do not appear to have been established at any of these locations. Also,

5576-460: Was ever established, and the state business charter was forfeited on March 4, 1916 for failure to pay the state license tax. Incorporated in the state of Delaware on December 30, 1911 by Frank Vernon, Ivor B. Blaiberg, and Albert D. Miller. (Also reported as E. B. Waples, W. W. Day and F. R. Janvier). Although there was a limited amount of corporate activity reported in 1912-1913, nothing of significance appears to have resulted. The corporation charter

5658-567: Was forced into receivership due to a salary dispute. The company charter was cancelled sometime during the biennial reporting period of October 1, 1912 to September 30, 1914, for failure to pay the annual state license fee. There were a few other early attempts to set up telephone-based news and entertainment systems in the United States, including the Tellevent , which conducted demonstrations and experimental work in Michigan from 1906-1908, and

5740-466: Was forfeited November 30, 1913, for failure to pay the state license tax. One of the first associate companies to be formed, this was also, due to fraud, one of the first to fail. It was chartered in California in May 1911, led by Peter Archbold Gordon Grimes, who turned out to be a con man. Grimes soon ran off with company funds, and was next seen impersonating an aviator in Hawaii. The corporation charter

5822-499: Was forfeited on November 30, 1911 for failure to pay its state license tax. This affiliate, capitalized with $ 500,000 of common stock, was chartered in the state of Washington in June, 1911. The officers were Sherwood Gillespy, president; B. J. Klarman, vice president; and N. R. Solner, secretary and treasurer. It was also announced that demonstrations were being conducted at the company headquarters at 339-340-341 Henry building. The company soon faced financial difficulties, and in October

5904-457: Was granted to Árpád Németh, and assigned to the company. Regionally-based Telephone Herald affiliates were authorized for the purpose of creating local "telephone newspaper" systems, with "the parent company to receive a royalty on every instrument installed". But ultimately the parent company and its affiliates proved financially unsuccessful, and the United States Telephone Herald Company began winding down operations. Its Delaware business charter

5986-445: Was inaugurated with a message from Puskás, which, translated into English, stated: We greet the inhabitants of Budapest. We greet them in an unusual way from which telephone broadcasting all over the world will start its victorious journey. For the initial transmissions, individuals who had telephones called into a central office to listen to Telefon Hírmondó reports that were updated hourly. At this time newspapers published in

6068-486: Was incorporated in Oregon, and headquartered at 506 Royal Building (Seventh and Morrison) in Portland. Extensive demonstrations were begun in May 1912, and advertisements the next month said commercial service would start "around October 1st". A January 1913 solicitation for home subscribers for "The Talking Newspaper and Amusement Purveyor" listed the hours of operation as 8:00 AM to midnight. Later advertisements referred to

6150-403: Was proofread by an assistant editor, with help of a copyholder. The verified sheet comprised part of the daily programme, and was added to the day's file along with the other sheets. A duplicate was cut up into convenient strips for the reading by the stentors. Although the Telefon Hírmondó had much in common with newspaper publications, it had no leading articles or editorials. The editor alone

6232-639: Was re-launched in 1922, under the name Fonogiornale . Manley M. Gillam, a former advertising manager of the New York Herald , encountered the Telefon Hírmondó while touring Hungary, and obtained the American rights. In 1909 he established the United States Telephone Herald Company , which supported associate companies established throughout the United States. Two of these briefly conducted commercial operations:

6314-629: Was regulated by another patented device. Vacuum-tube amplification would not be developed until the 1910s, so there were limited means for producing signals strong enough to be heard throughout the system. Therefore, for transmitting the news, announcers with especially loud voices — known as stentors — were hired and instructed to speak as forcefully as possible into specially designed double-receivers. Home installations normally consisted of two earphone telephone receivers, connected to long, flexible wires. A subscriber could listen using both earphones, or, alternately, two persons could listen by each using

6396-420: Was repealed on January 25, 1917 for two years taxes unpaid. Incorporated in California in August 1911 by H. A. Schmidt (president), M. N. Schmidt and G. Stephens. The principals were inspired by the reported success of the concept in San Francisco, and promotional advertisements were run in the fall of 1911, but the enterprise never began operations, and the state charter was forfeited on November 30, 1912. This

6478-428: Was repealed on January 28, 1918, for failure to pay state corporate taxes for two years. At least twelve Telephone Herald associate companies were formed, although in only two cases was a telephone newspaper service successfully launched: the New Jersey Telephone Herald (1911-1912) and the Oregon Telephone Herald (1912-1913). (In some cases the service was also referred to as the "telectrophone".) Each associate company

6560-603: Was reported in the fall of 1913. The company's secretary-treasurer, J. Whited died in September 1913, and the company president, William Angus, was killed in a mining accident in October 1914. In addition, the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company initially refused to lease telephone lines to the company, resulting in a complaint filed before the Railroad Commission of the State of California. This case

6642-461: Was responsible in case of action against the paper for libel. By 1901, there had been two or three lawsuits against the editor, and he had prevailed in all the cases. The service exchanged reports with the city newspapers, and the editors and managers of the Telefon Hírmondó received the same usual courtesies extended to the newspapers, such as passes and free tickets. In 1901, the Telefon Hírmondó employed about 180 people during winter and 150 in

6724-513: Was second San Francisco-based Telephone Herald company, following the earlier California Telephone Herald Company. It was incorporated in the state of California on October 29, 1912, with founding the directors of W. H. Dohrmann, J. F. Dohrmann, A. J. Beecher, F. W. Beecher, Thomas R. White, C. E. Youngblood, Rudolph Schlueten, Clarence Eppstein and E. L. Manner. Demonstrations were given at 687 Market Street in early January 1913, but no further progress appears to have been made. The corporation charter

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