In 1868 the
Poste pneumatique de Paris, also called the pneumatic telegraph, began operation in Paris, by which users could send written messages across Paris that could be delivered within one hour or less, sent through a system of tubes powered operated by air pressure. At its peak in 1933 the network covered 427 km within Paris. The system was shut down in 1984.
People using the system purchased prepaid small forms--either postcards, or preprinted sheets on which one would write the name and address on one side, the message on the other, and fold over and seal the small letter. The postcards were called "Carte-Télégrammes," and as the image shows, the other types of message forms were sometimes called "Carte Pneumatique" or just Telegramme, or "Tubes Pneumatiques." The unused white message form printed in red ink in the upper left corner of the collection shown in the photograph appears to be one of the last types of forms used for the pneumatic system.
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
One style of card was limited to certain regions in the pneumatic telegraph system since some parts were not operational; the other could be used to send messages anywhere in the system that was working at the time.
The Paris pneumatic tube system in 1888 showing all the stations, and the transmission directions that messages would flow through the tubes to reach their final destination. The map also shows the pumping stations and the system of air flow from the pumping stations into the transmission tubes. Though the system was pneumatic rather than electronic it was operated by the French telegraph.
