Wednesday, December 28, 2011

1930 Telegram

From "combomphotos" on Flickr, some high resolution scans of a blank telegram from 1930. The set includes both the front and back.

5 comments:

  1. @ Combom

    They're an incredibly useful resource. Thanks for making them available.

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  2. Since your gamers needn't actually pay cable rates, you may have them sending plaintext around the world, but telegrams used to cost a bit by word and distance. Commercial codebooks weren't secret, they were ways to compress lengthy blocks of text into, say, ten-letter words [5-letter half-words], thus saving transmission time and expense. e.g.:

    ARKTEAWOIA
    "The person is an adventurer, be on your guard; cannot find a more suitable agent."
    The ABC Universal Commercial Telegraphic Code, 6th edition (1920).

    More about commercial codes? See this wonderful site: http://www.jmcvey.net/cable/index1.htm

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  3. Of course there were also telegraphic codes for secrecy, like this 1882 bankers' code, which (as John McVey notes has been argued) may have incorporated the first use of the "one-time pad".

    Minus the crucial one-time-pad conversion, the codewords look like this:

    Nauseated Dilacerate Grainy Pitiless Outlay Limetwig Homiletic Cemental Gentiles Marasmus
    "Pursuing Crowley headed stone ring We must intercept before gate opened"

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  4. Third, last, and most impressive to me in its sheer vocabulary, Bensinger’s Complete Phrase Code (1921 reprint of a 1906 text), hat-tip again to John McVey:

    EWGZOATAGM RIPEVUBSER AKBUZBRASC ETYONTUKEM DUTNYBAAVY ALKOCRILER GLERJABAMP AFTNAKUJBO BECKAHELEV CAFGOROYAJ OHVIRVAVUC IRLOTKOUMB DYDUROKAMV UKPUJLAHZO.

    "Eastward from-Australia ship-has sunk along-with full-cargo due-to heavy-storm, crew-saved, boarded another ship found abandoned adrift.* New bridge has-a chart showing previously unknown island near-here, curiously proceeding to-there now."

    *[Movie version.]

    OFDIJAHYUH. EMKNOKDYPAY EGODTDUTOL DEYVAIDYAB LOUISIANA ATZIJWOBUR IVSYLOBTIP POVOPUMPGA OBOXTKAYIT GAGEPICMAT KIEFKPYEMP LEKDAANSAY HIPYKPUWYX IZDICALBUT. BULKEKAOVS OVPOKHAZKY. ODVADOPGUB AGMEVEKIRS LEGRASSE NOLAPD OWSYLIJMUB ULWAGEFWIR.

    "Police be-on-the-alert.** Discovered very-dangerous deranged criminal conspiracy in-the Louisiana back woods killing people at-a-sacrifice to-a peculiar metal figure illustrating mixed sea-going eight armed headed scaled land animal. Caught members red handed. Please as-quickly-as-possible advise Detective Legrasse NOLAPD with-regard-to information-re this denomination."

    **[Though realistically the police wouldn’t use this codebook.]

    UMUKSJYNAG SAWUROFDIJ. GOYVACAYZO KALOJFIULN ARKHAM. OGELKCYTAZ WHATLEYW OGGIGHIPFE EKVATKELKA TYNZOOZCLA BABFEENRED IPFBOGYVLE RAEXTJOAWL.

    "To-the Mass State Police.*** From-the Chief Medical Examine[r] Arkham. Will-not-be-possible-to complete WhatleyW post-mortem head did-not-have mineral substratum remainder-of body dissolved into green semi- liquid."

    ***[Same comment.]

    HYALBCUBUX FANOFJULAF, NOVTODYREC,
    ALBAPFAPUH MYRIREVURD WESTAWIJYV
    RAYETKINOV AYBOVGOWTA NOMHAELEDY.


    "I-will combat endless madness, outer darkness,
    and-the enemies of-the Earth who-would willingly
    serve monstrous beasts from other dimensions."

    [Would make a great CoC "geek pin" with an LED flashing the Morse; if anyone wants to, feel free.]

    ReplyDelete