TIL in May 1864 the first record of electronic spam was sent by a dentist in London
BananaTrifleViolin, Or was this the first example of gurilla paid advertisement in the comments section? "How do I advertise my dental practice? I know I'll pretend I was disturbed by a telegram and they shall print my complaint! And it shall goeth viraleth"
Steve, Almost certainly.
variants, indubitably
SpaceNoodle, Wow, there are actually still medical offices there.
SomeoneElse, Harley street is the most famous place in the country for (private) medical practices. Today there’s thousand of people employed in one type of medical job or another there.
SpaceNoodle, Neat.
echodot, Notice seems to be where all the cryopreservatory places are. Because if you’re going to be stolen liquid nitrogen after death I suppose you should do it somewhere ritzy.
burningmatches, 27 Harley Street is now an ear, nose and throat specialist with a reputation for treating people who can’t burp.
samus12345, 
Probably still disturbing people using the intolerable nuisance known as “telegrams.”
echodot, I don’t even have telegram installed.
Sylvartas, I would love to be able to burp, but a Botox injection in the neck/throat ? Nah I think I’ll pass
echodot, So they’ve gone out of business. It looks like the advertising campaign didn’t work then
Dagwood222, Sounds like something out of r/writing prompts.
A wizard makes a deal to live forever. The cost he must pay is 100 healthy human teeth every year…
Viking_Hippie, (edited ) Imagine how much better the world could have been if the editor of The Times had taken the time to have a quick word with a dentist in 1864!
AstralWeekends, Unsubscribe me at once, you scoundrels!
pete_the_cat, It wasn’t electronic since he clearly says “placed into my hands”.
elbarto777, When you read spam in your phone, the message is in your hands!!
Checkmate, atheïst!
magnetosphere, 
If I remember correctly, weren’t telegrams fairly expensive back in the day? Did the dentist get some kind of “bulk discount”?
variants, how old are you?
Rooty, Mr. Gabriel sure got his money’s worth from his telegram, since we’re still circulating it 159 years later.
xantoxis, Yeah i went down there today, but they weren’t in professional attendance (presumably because it is now October)
elbarto777, Four stars. Will change to five stars when they open.
Spaghetti_Hitchens, Forget going back in time to kill baby Hitler... Let's get the dentist instead.
casmael, Bring back telegrams tbh
ininewcrow, 
Good day sir … here is your daily wheel barrow load of telegrams.
I believe I saw a message from your mother in there.
Til the morrow with my next wheel barrow.
Hubi, The German Post just discontinued their service two years ago :(
EmoDuck, They’re still around in most of the world. If you wanna spend 20 bucks on a telegram that could have easily been a free email, go for it
elbarto777, Come to think of it, email is a form of telegram, since it’s translated to 1’s and 0’s, or dots and dashes…??
ubermeisters,
- your faithful servant
Oof, kiss the ring buddy
casmael, Merely colloquial and of the time your grace
AntifaNI, 
Spam by telegram and get free ad in national newspaper ?
Rhaedas, 
Sign of a professional.
prayer, Literally just how people ended letters in 1864. It’s like seeing someone say “bless you” to a sneeze and scoffing at it.
Microw, Ah, someone hasn’t seen Hamilton?
ubermeisters, Ah, someone gets thier history from movies?
seitanic, Hamilton isn’t a movie.
ubermeisters, Yeah that wasn’t the point but thanks for splitting that hair down the middle, you made a vast difference here…
Kusimulkku, I like how every single reply of yours so far makes you seem like a bigger tool. It’s aspirational.
ubermeisters, What you think of me is for you to think, not for me to care about. Thanks.
echodot, I also think you’re a tool if it helps. Or indeed if it does not.
I hope it doesn’t, this is fun.
ubermeisters, (edited ) Trolls are gonna troll 🤷♂️
What kind of weirdo admits to deriving pleasure this way? Idk but not a normal person. Time for some self reflection there bub.
echodot, Thing is I’m not trying to act superior and then look like a total melon because I’m not the one that thinks that Hamilton, a famous musical, is a movie so I’m not thinking I’m the strange one here.
Kusimulkku, What you think of me is for you to think
Big if true
lettruthout, Was expecting something like: “We’ve been trying to reach you about your horse and buggy warranty.”
drolex, In June 1864, everyone in London was receiving telegrams about grieving widows looking for company in the neighbourhood.
unconsciousvoidling, Hot widows in your area are bored with using candlesticks and require a gentleman.
grysbok, 
Hot rich widows in the countryside await your acquaintance. “Triflers need not apply.”
BreadstickNinja, Those vehicle warranty ads are so insidious. The ones I get use packaging that’s typically reserved for official government mailers and sometimes include the name of a govt agency that has nothing to do with them.
Whenever I throw one out I imagine how many elderly people must be mistaking them for govt business and getting fleeced out of their money.
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