TWX (magazine)

TWX
Editor William Gafford
Categories Trade magazine
Frequency Bi-monthly
Circulation 8,000
Publisher AT&T Corporation - Long Line Division
First issue June 1944
Final issue March 1952
Company AT&T Corporation
Country United States
Based in New Jersey
Language English

TWX was a trade magazine published by the Long Lines Department of AT&T Corporation.[1] The magazine first appeared in June 1944 and was published sporadically, ceasing publication in March 1952 after 41 issues.[2]

TWX magazine took its name from the TeletypeWriter eXchange service, which was developed by AT&T Corp. in 1931.[3] The TWX service was sold to Western Union in 1969,[4] but it remained an industry standard until 1981, when it was converted to the Telex II system.

Free subscriptions to TWX magazine were offered to companies that were using AT&T's equipment and services. As such, the content tended to focus less on the technical aspects of telegraph/Teletype operations and more on practical usage in an office environment. Each issue featured industry news, product evaluations, and testimonials from office managers extolling the virtues of the teletypewriter.[5] Although most of the articles were published without a byline, some of the magazine's content has been attributed to science-fiction writer William Tenn, who was working as a technical editor for AT&T's Bell Labs at the time.[6]

Although TWX magazine boasted a circulation of 8,000, most of that was due to its free circulation to AT&T's clients and partners. Few people actually read the magazine, and those that did accused it of being little more than "twenty pages of fluff and advertisements for products with a niche market at best".[7] Although the TWX system itself remained viable for several decades, TWX magazine shut down in March 1952.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Brooks, John (1976). Telephone: The First Hundred Years. Harper & Row. p. 124. ISBN 0060105402.
  2. ↑ Ford, James L. C. (1969). Magazines for Millions: The Story of Specialized Publications. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 113.
  3. ↑ Huurdeman, Anton A. (2003). The Worldwide History of Telecommunications. John Wiley & Sons. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-471-20505-0.
  4. ↑ "WU to Buy AT&T TWX". Western Union News Volume II (4). January 15, 1969.
  5. ↑ Ford (1969). p. 115. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Clareson, Thomas D. (editor) (1976). Voices for the Future: Essays on Major Science Fiction Writers, Vol. 1. The Popular Press. p. 212. ISBN 0-87972-119-7.
  7. ↑ Ford (1969). pp. 115–6. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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