Over humanities recorded history there have been many different ways of communication used, both simple and complex. Simple in that humans once used horseback and smoke signals to communicate with one another. Nowadays there is a global communication network and much of the earths human population is a part of this network. There are still communicational relics that are left over from the past, usually used for the purpose of a joke one of these forms of communication is that of the singing telegrams bay area residents use in many cities.

The telegram was a form of communication used widely before the telephone was invented. What it basically was is a simple written message that was delivered through wire in it's earliest forms and later on through broadcasts. In it's earliest form it was in Morse code.

Telegrams were used mostly to deliver news of some kind, usually quite serious news. They were not used to make idle chit chat, much like many of us to do today on our mobile telephones. Telegrams that are sung are a way more humorous way of sending messages.

Telegrams that sing were invented way back in 1933. Popularized by a large telegram company, the first one was the brainchild of the public relations officer for the company at that time. That day they had received a message wishing a Hollywood celebrity a happy birthday, from one of their fans. The PR officer had the brilliant idea of having the operator sing the message over the phone. That was the first telegram that was sung.

Because of the serious nature of telegrams the PR officer wanted to change that view and give the public another use of the telegram. He wanted to increase their amount of business by doing this, however the higher ups were not impressed with what he had done and thought that he had turned their company into something ridiculous.

The invention of the telephone made telegrams obsolete, so very few telegrams were being sent from the 1960's and on wards. In fact the only incantation of a telegram that is really used to this day is that of the singing telegram. Evolving from that first sung happy birthday message it has since turned into a humorous way of delivering good news.

State funded companies such as the one that came up with the first sung telegram no longer participate in this practice. Instead there are many private companies that now offer this service. It is much more of a theatrical service now than it was before. The messenger is usually required to dress up as something that relates to the message that they are singing and they are delivered straight to the recipient wherever they may be. Although this is the usual method of delivery the message may be delivered other ways, such as on a DVD.

Telegrams are now virtually unrecognizable from what they are originally were. It is now an act and is used to deliver funny, or good news as opposed to the serious messages that this form of communication was known for before. The modern world has swallowed it and adapted it to it's purposes.