My interest in the history of the telegraph began when I read a book called The Victorian Internet. The book detailed many of the ways the telegraph’s impact on the world in the nineteenth century was similar to the internet in the twenty-first. The world got smaller, news traveled faster, and businesses were completely altered. As with the internet, there were even scams and long-distance romances!
Almost from the beginning, telegraphy was an occupation pursued by women as well as men. It was work that both could do equally well. Sometimes they worked in separate departments, but more and more, men and women worked right alongside each other. It didn’t escape many people at the time that this setup could easily give rise to workplace romances. That’s a fun idea I’ll be pursuing in the LOVE ALONG THE WIRES series.
The steel magnate Andrew Carnegie makes a few appearances in this book. His trip across England in a four-in-hand coach actually happened. Much of the advice he gives to Douglas in this book came directly from Carnegie’s own writings.
In my research, I discovered a real-life inspiration for The Spinster’s Guide to Love and Romance, the book which causes so many comical problems for Alice. Written by Myrtle Reed in 1901, The Spinster Book is very definitely tongue-in-cheek in its handling of the subject of love and the ways men and women interact with one another. The guide Alice uses purports to be a straight-up how-to manual, although Alice has plenty of doubts about whether anyone could really take it seriously. Many of the quotes in this novel are taken from The Spinster Book, so I’ll let you decide! Although written over a hundred years ago, the book pokes fun at many human foibles that are timeless. In future books in this series, Alice’s friends will also discover its potential for sparking romance and a few unintended consequences on the road to true love.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into the Victorian workplace. There is a popular saying that “The past is a different country.” While that’s certainly true, I’ve enjoyed exploring some of its similarities, too. With the busy pace, the inevitable conflicts with coworkers, and the vital importance of business machines, Victorian offices don’t seem so different from many today.