''TWX'' was a
trade magazine
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for thi ...
published by the
Long Lines Department of
AT&T Corporation
AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...
. The magazine first appeared in June 1944 and was published sporadically, ceasing publication in March 1952 after 41 issues.
''TWX'' magazine took its name from the
Teletypewriter Exchange Service, which was developed by AT&T Corp. in 1931. The TWX service was sold to
Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...
in 1969, 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.
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
William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass (May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010), a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family in London, Phillip Klass mo ...
, who was working as a technical editor for AT&T's
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...
at the time.
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".
Although the TWX system itself remained viable for several decades, ''TWX'' magazine shut down in March 1952.
See also
* ''
Bell Labs Record
''Bell Laboratories Record'' (BLR) was a publication of the ''Bureau of Publication'' of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and Bell Laboratories. It commenced distribution as a house organ for the employees and associates of the ...
''
* ''
Bell Labs Technical Journal
The ''Bell Labs Technical Journal'' is the in-house scientific journal for scientists of Nokia Bell Labs, published yearly by the IEEE society. The managing editor is Charles Bahr.
The journal was originally established as the ''Bell System Techn ...
''
References
{{Reflist
Defunct magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1944
Magazines disestablished in 1952
Professional and trade magazines
English-language magazines
Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
AT&T
Telephony
House organs
Magazines published in New Jersey
1944 establishments in New Jersey
1952 disestablishments in New Jersey