It took me over 48 hours to find this. I knew I had it stashed somewhere, I just didn't know where I had put it for safekeeping. The envelope that it was sent in is completely nibbled around the entire periphery, which looks like the work of mice. This telegram was sent to "Mrs. Geo. A. Sanchez, 43 Balboa Coves, Newport Beach, Calif." The telegram says I was born at 8:30 AM. My Photo Baby Album says 8:25 AM. My Certificate of Birth from Florida does not list a time of birth, so I will just have to suspect that my dad rounded up to the nearest half hour for Grandma Sanchez.
In those days, people rarely phoned long distance, mostly because of the cost (and most people had party lines, where more than one household shared the same phone line: watch the movie MR. HOBBS TAKES A VACATION from the early 60's). Obviously, there was no Internet, no emails. Telegrams were often the quickest way to inform someone of an event. It was also a succinct way to communicate since the sender was charge by the number of letters in the telegram.
Telegrams are now, of course, pretty much a thing of the past, though Google indicates with several entries that you can still send one. In the 1960's, 70's, and 80's, there were songs about telegrams: "Hey, Western Union Man", among others.
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