Postal Telegraph-Cable Company
Postal Telegraph-Cable Company (1886 - 1943), or more simply the Postal Telegraph Company, was founded by Irish-American industrialist John William Mackay. After striking it rich as one of the 'Bonanza kings' of the Comstock Lode in Nevada, Mackay launched a series of business ventures, including the Commercial Telegraph Company in 1884, designed to challenge the near-total monopoly of Jay Gould's Western Union Telegraph Company. In 1886, he founded the Postal Telegraph Company and laid two transatlantic cables, significantly reducing the costs of transatlantic telegraphy. He continued to expand his network, founding the Commercial Pacific Cable Company and other companies before his death in 1902, whereupon his son Clarence took over management of his companies. At its height, the Mackay network reached from Manila and Shanghai to Europe, forming the only real alternative to Western Union in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The companies ran into financial difficulties and were acquired in toto by International Telephone and Telegraph (I.T.T.), but continued to function until the Communications Act of 1934 forced it to merge with Western Union.
The long forgotten 'other' telegraph company.
Postal Telegraph-Cable Company.
$600.00
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- Digital Map Information
- Suitable for large format printing
- File Size: 4.72 MB
- File Type: ZIP / TIFF
- ICC color profile embedded
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A scarce complete 1896 calendar and chromolithograph promotional map produced by Knapp for the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company of New York City. Though little known today, the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company was, at the time this map was produced, the only viable competitor to Western Union, with which it eventually merged. (more details)