Collections | Great Inventions of the 19th Century | Postal services and telecommunications [31 Objects, 2 Monuments]

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24 hour optical telegraphy presented to the minister by a marine officer and used by the coast signalling services (1802)

1801

National Library of France

Paris, France

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 Justification for this item

Napoleon I promoted the use of telegraph in the territories he conquered. In his military campaigns, he recognised the importance of technical innovations.

Skeleton telephone

19th century

Itisalat al-Maghrib Museum

Rabat, Morocco

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 Justification for this item

The telephone appeared in the second part of the 19th century, when the possibility of transmitting speech electrically was discovered. In Morocco, Mulay Hasan I introduced telephone lines as part of his promotion of infrastructure.

Skeleton telephone

19th century

Itisalat al-Maghrib Museum

Rabat, Morocco

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The first postmaster's office in Tunis, 1892

19th century

Musée des Postes, Télégraphes et Télécommunications

Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

As an element of continuity with local handicraft and woodwork traditions, the technical innovation (the post office and its furniture) was interpreted according to traditional furniture design, made of wood with floral decoration, mixed with Tunisian, Turkish and European decorative elements.

The first postmaster's office in Tunis, 1892

19th century

Musée des Postes, Télégraphes et Télécommunications

Tunis, Tunisia

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Map of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia

1827

Austrian State Archives

Vienna, Austria

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 Justification for this item

After the Congress of Vienna (1815), Austria annexed territories of northern Italy, and the city of Venice, formerly a republic, became part of the Kingdom of Lombardo-Venezia. Austria absorbed the Venetian trade routes on the Adriatic Sea towards the Ottoman Empire introducing infrastructure, as this map of the postal routes shows.

Map of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia

1827

Austrian State Archives

Vienna, Austria

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The Route of the Overland mail to India; Aden

c. 1850-1852

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

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 Justification for this item

Before the opening of the Suez Canal, the British postal service to India followed a maritime and overland route. Steamships of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) sailed from Southampton to Alexandria (Egypt), then passengers and mail went via Cairo to Suez by caravan and boat; from Suez they sailed by another steamship to Aden and India.

The Route of the Overland mail to India; Aden

c. 1850-1852

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

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The bronze statue representing 22 countries of member of Universal Postal Union

1874

Istanbul Postal Museum

Istanbul, Turkey

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 Justification for this item

Following the Tanzimat (military, administrative, fiscal and educational Ottoman reforms), an Ottoman postal service was introduced in the empire from 1840. The Ottoman Empire joined the Universal Postal Union in 1874.

Photograph of the installation of the telephone exchange in Tangier

1883

Itisalat al-Maghrib Museum

Rabat, Morocco

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 Justification for this item

The first telephone exchange in Tangier was installed in 1883. Events like this were documented by photographs representing more than just routine technical works: two major inventions, photography and the telephone, celebrated reciprocally.

Map of the Red Sea

1883

The British Library

London, United Kingdom

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 Justification for this item

This map was included in a guide with sailing indications for British ships crossing the Red Sea on the route to India. Submarine telegraph cables had been installed between Suez, Sawakin and Jiddah (ports on the Red Sea). Telegraph communication developed also between ports and along strategic trade and mail routes.

Map of the Red Sea

1883

The British Library

London, United Kingdom

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10 cents an issue. Le Télégraphe. Morning Newspaper. Special connections with the whole world.

1886

National Library of France

Paris, France

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 Justification for this item

Towards the end of the 19th century, telegraph had developed and was widespread and familiar. It was seen as another sign of progress.

Document attesting to the 'Telegraph Crisis' between Morocco and Great Britain

1887

General Library and Archives

Tetouan, Morocco

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 Justification for this item

European diplomatic and economic interference in Morocco, consolidated by the Commercial Treaty of 1856, is illustrated by the crisis over the Tangier–Gibraltar telegraph line. The British Eastern Telegraph Company built the line in 1884–87 without the permission of the Sultan Mulay al-Hasan as a fait accompli and in spite of his protests.

Revenue stamp

1888

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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 Justification for this item

The Khedive Ismail is considered one of the great reformers of administration and infrastructure in Egypt. Among the innovations he introduced were stamps in 1866. After that date, stamps were commonly used in the Egyptian postal system, as this stamp issued by the Khedive Tawfiq shows.

Revenue stamp

1888

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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The post office

1891

Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

The French protectorate inaugurated the new post office building. Postal and telegraph communications were integrated in the postal service network between the Tunisian protectorate and France, and between Tunisia and Algeria.

The Tunisian post service

1891

Musée des Postes, Télégraphes et Télécommunications

Tunis, Tunisia

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 Justification for this item

A painting showing the interior of the post office built in Tunis during the French protectorate. Life in the city was reshaped by the introduction of the communication services: the architecture recalls European buildings and a new concept of public space is introduced into the traditional way of life.

The Tunisian post service

1891

Musée des Postes, Télégraphes et Télécommunications

Tunis, Tunisia

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Royal Decree to establish the post of Makhzen

22 November 1892

Al-Hassania Library

Rabat, Morocco

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 Justification for this item

The Post Makhzen, the official postal service, was issued by Mulay al-Hasan I as part of his reforms in 1892. The organisation of postal services was based on local employees, and it was a means of asserting full sovereignty through the control of the postal connections in the cities.

Royal Decree to establish the post of Makhzen

22 November 1892

Al-Hassania Library

Rabat, Morocco

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A telegram from the Khedive of Egypt to the Ottoman sultan

15 December 1897

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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 Justification for this item

Telegrams were a widespread form of communication at the political and official level.

A telegram from the Khedive of Egypt to the Ottoman sultan

15 December 1897

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Alexandria, Egypt

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Switchboard (Telefon Santrali)

1895

Istanbul Postal Museum

Istanbul, Turkey

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 Justification for this item

When the telephone was introduced it was not yet possible for callers to contact people directly. Callers had to be connected via a switchboard like this one.

Switchboard (Telefon Santrali)

1895

Istanbul Postal Museum

Istanbul, Turkey

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The Istanbul Main Post Office

1903–1909

Istanbul, Turkey

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 Justification for this item

Istanbul’s main post office was built by the architect Vedat Tek, a leading figure in the Turkish First National Architecture Movement. This building symbolises technical, urban and artistic trends in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Located in the Sirkeci quarter of Fatih district, near the Sirkeci railway station and Eminönü port.

Istanbul Main Post Office Opening Ceremony

1903–1909

Istanbul Postal Museum

Istanbul, Turkey

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 Justification for this item

The inauguration of the main post office was a public event in a cosmopolitan city such as Istanbul. It was built and inaugurated in crucial years for the city, when different political ideas were in conflict, yet the post office was still a visible sign of modernity.

Istanbul Main Post Office Opening Ceremony

1903–1909

Istanbul Postal Museum

Istanbul, Turkey

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The young ladies of the telephones: a view of a Parisian telephone exchange

1904

National Library of France

Paris, France

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 Justification for this item

The telephone was another 19th-century invention celebrated in France with the publication of prints and photographs. They also portrayed the social changes brought about by the new inventions, in particular a new social class of women employees.

Electric telegraph machine

1907

Itisalat al-Maghrib Museum

Rabat, Morocco

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 Justification for this item

During the reign of Sultan Mulay ‘Abd al-Aziz telegraph lines were introduced in Morocco.

Electric telegraph machine

1907

Itisalat al-Maghrib Museum

Rabat, Morocco

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