Telegram to Dr. Erdmann from Dr. McMechan, 1930

These days, we often ask ourselves how we ever got things done without e-mail. Well, this was one of the ways. This telegram from Francis H. McMechan, M.D., to Adolph F. Erdmann, M.D., offers congratulations during ASA’s 25th anniversary. Despite his own debilitating arthritis, Dr. McMechan played a crucial role in helping to organize and strengthen anesthesiology as a specialty. The rather glaring misspelling of the McMechan name proves that although the telegraph was the quickest, surest and safest way to send a message at that time, it didn’t guarantee grammatical integrity.

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