Public Relations Department Records

The Public Relations Department, formerly known as the Sales Department, promoted the company through sales, advertising, and marketing, and rate research. The news clipping books, 1958-1962, were created by Western Union's Public Relations Department to bring to the attention of local editors news about Western Union and to obtain publicity. Each news clipping book consists of photocopies and contains a preface page stating the nature of the clipping(s) and highlighting certain articles. There is no index accompanying these books. Some news clipping books are devoted to a subject. This is noted parenthetically in the container list. Several of the books bear a stamped number and the books have been arranged according to this number. The majority of the news clipping books belonged to Mr. Love, Comptroller for Western Union. The news clipping binders, 1918-1975, are originals and appear to have been produced by the Public Relations Department. Like the news clipping books, the clippings have been assembled according to topics of interest to Western Union. The publicity clippings, 1959-1978, were created by the Public Relations and Advertising Department and consist of three folders of photocopied material which is a representative collection of newspaper stories and magazine articles about Western Union services and people House Organs were publications produced in-house by Western Union for internal dissemination only. These included: Commercial Suggestions, a weekly pickup of sales ideas on "how the other fellow did it" and "how you can do it." Journal of the Telegraph, formerly known as Telegraphic Journal of New York, began on December 2, 1867 and ceased December 20, 1914. The Telegraph & Telephone Age, established in 1883, was a semi-monthly journal dedicated to commercial and railway telegraph, telephone, and submarine cable interests and radio telegraphy. Western Union News was introduced in July, 1914. It was edited by and for employees and provided up-to-date research information forum for more personal and social related matters. Western Union Technical Review began in July 1947.