I've just finished reading The Victorian Internet and recommend it to this list. There are some important lessons in it, though nothing in the way of mass comm theory except that anecdotes will reinforce what you already know, and very little specifically regarding snail mail. The book is mostly an historical account of the technical evolution of telegraphy but aptly named as it reveals a great many social parallels between the use of the telegraph network and the internet. For instance, telegraphers were chatting online a century before AOL was thought of, even to the point of romance and virtual marriage cerimonies. Having studied the differences between British and American online news organizations I was particularly interested to learn that the philosophical roots of these differences extend all the way back to the telegraph: "The greatest difference between the telegraph systems of Europe and America is that [in Europe], the telegraph is used principally for social correspondence, here by businessmen for business purposes". (p.169) Don Holeman -----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Denise N. Rall Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2005 9:26 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] Postal mail and e-mail Dear Michael - I think someone in this group built up some theory on what postal mail meant to the Victorians (British). Uh this is the only ref I can find to Victorians: Standage, T. (1998). The Victorian Internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century's on-line pioneers. New York, Walker and Co. But from the Royal Mail you could pull it up to the 21st C. America. Maybe there's a fun history out there on Hallmark cards???? Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/