The United States Telephone Herald Company, founded in 1909, was the parent corporation for a number of associated "telephone newspaper" companies, located throughout the United States, that were organized to provide news and entertainment over telephone lines to subscribing homes and businesses. This was the most ambitious attempt to develop a distributed audio service prior to the rise of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s.
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 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the company to suspend operations, and the corporation charter for the United States Telephone Herald Company was repealed in early 1918.
Company history
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 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 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." Hark! Telephone Will Tell it All", New York Herald, October 7, 1909, page 9 (fultonhistory.com) In March 1910, the parent company was reorganized as the "United States Telephone Herald Company", now operating as a Delaware-chartered corporation."Entity Details: File Number 23331 (United States Telephone Herald Company), State of Delaware: Department of State: Division of Corporations.
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."News Bulletins by 'Phone", New York Times, September 9, 1910, page 3. 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 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 , 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" 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"." 'Phone Herald's Short Life", The Fourth Estate, March 2, 1912, pages 10, 23. 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 was repealed on January 28, 1918, for failure to pay state corporate taxes for two years."United States Telephone Herald Company", Marvyn Scudder Manual of Extinct or Obsolete Companies: Vol. I (1926), page 1263.
Telephone Herald associate companies
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 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,"Score or Lecture Hot Off Wire For Fan or Clubwoman" The Labor World, July 9, 1910, page 8. Scranton, Pennsylvania "No Private Wires on News Telephone", Scranton (Pennsylvania) Republican, September 29, 1910, page 2. and Montreal, Canada,"News and Opera Over Telephone", Montreal Gazette, January 12, 1911, page 1. but systems do not appear to have been established at any of these locations. Also, 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,"Central California Telephone Herald" (advertisement), Sacramento Union, December 15, 1912, page 36. but there is no information for these either.
Associate companies that launched telephone newspapers
New Jersey Telephone Herald Co. (Newark)
Of the two Telephone Herald affiliates which launched commercial services, the New Jersey Telephone Herald 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 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 the day four stentors announced during rotating shifts of 15 minutes each, and did staff work when they were not announcing." America's First Announcer Hailed From Springfield" by Richard D. Arons, Springfield (Massachusetts) Sunday Union and Republican, February 12, 1928, page 34.
An ambitious daily service, closely patterned after the Telefon Hírmondó, was launched in October 1911,"New Jersey Telephone Herald Co." (debut advertisement), Newark (New Jersey) Evening Star, October 23, 1911, page 4. 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 the Essex Building on Clinton Street in Newark. Condit S. Atkinson, who had extensive newspaper experience, headed the service's news department."Editor Atkinson Gets Out First Issue of News by Wire", New Brunswick (New Jersey) Times, October 25, 1911, page 6.
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 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."My Father Was Uncle Wiggily by Roger Garis, 1966, page 90. 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 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 Newark Telephone Herald Resumes", The Fourth Estate, June 1, 1912, page 19. The service, now calling itself the "telectrophone", was relaunched in November,"New Jersey Telephone Herald Co." (advertisement), Newark (New Jersey) Evening Star, October 19, 1912, page 6. however, this would only be a temporary respite, and the telephone newspaper transmissions shut down for good at the end of the year."How Broadcasting Was Done in Jersey Twelve Years Ago" by Condit S. Atkinson, New Brunswick (New Jersey) Times, February 17, 1924, page 6.
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."Broadcasting in 1912" by G. C. B. Rowe, Radio News, June 1925, pages 2219, 2309, 2311. Following the permanent suspension of services, the New Jersey Telephone Herald's business charter was declared null and void on January 18, 1916."New Jersey Telephone Herald Company", Marvyn Scudder Manual of Extinct or Obsolete Companies: Vol. I (1926), page 853.
Oregon Telephone Herald Co. (Portland)
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 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"."Oregon Telephone Herald" (advertisement), The Sunday Oregonian, June 30, 1912, page 5.