THOMAS A. WATSON - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 05/21/1924 - HFSID 269531

THOMAS A. WATSON
Thomas A. Watson sends a typed letter asking about the proper clothes for a show when he returns.
Typed Letter Signed: "Thomas A. Watson", 1p, 8½x9¾, Boston, 1924 May 31. To Mr. Longley. In full: "I shall return from New Haven June 4th. Someone has kindly sent me a copy of a Salem paper that gives me the program for the 5th. Please write me so I will get it on my return from New Haven, whether in your judgment evening clothes will be most suitable for the occasion. Very truly yours," It is interesting to note that on June 5, 1924, the day of the occasion Watson refers to, was to become an important day in the history of communication. On that day in New York City, Swedish engineer and inventor Ernst Alexanderson transmitted the first facsimile message across the Atlantic Ocean, by sending a note to his father in Sweden. Watson has added "for the occasion" in his own hand. Thomas A. Watson (1854-1934) was Alexander Graham Bell's assistant (1874-1877). In 1876, when Bell spoke the first words on his telephone to his assistant in another room "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you", it was Thomas A. Watson on the receiving end. Watson later became research and technical head of the Bell Telephone Company and retired in 1881 a very rich man. On January 25, 1915, 39 years after that first telephone conversation, the first transcontinental telephone line was formally opened, with Alexander Graham Bell, now 67, at one end in New York, and Thomas A. Watson, now 60, at the other end in San Francisco. Lightly creased. Toning at upper blank margins. Folds. Horizontal fold touches W of Watson. Staple holes at upper left corner.