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Western Union became a well-known (and wealthy) company in the 19th and the first half of the 20th Century, when the telegraph was the least expensive means of long-distance communications. There was a Western Union station in every town, and people received telegrams (charged by the word) when the news was too important or too exciting to wait for the mail, and telephones were deemed too expensive or there was no local service. It was also possible to "wire" money from one point to another, with Western Union accepting cash at one end and handing it out at the other, less a bit for their trouble. Thus, at one time, they were one of the essential bits of the country's backbone.

Since the advent of fast air mail and cheap long-distance calling, Western Union has concentrated on the money-transfer end of the business. They are the fastest, easiest way to move money from one point to another, whether in the US or overseas, and seem to be in no danger of immediate bankruptcy.

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13y ago

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