Morse "Canvas-stretcher" telegraph receiver

This is Samuel F. B. Morse’s prototype telegraph receiver made in 1837. Morse (1791-1872), a painter of modest renown, reinvented himself by becoming an inventor. At age 41, returning from an art sojourn in Europe, Morse conceived of a way to send electric signals over a single wire: the telegraph. With the assistance of machinist Alfred Vail and others, Morse refined his ideas and made this proof-of-concept telegraph receiver using an artist’s canvas stretcher. After several years of refinements, Morse and Vail sent the famous message “What Hath God Wrought” over a line between Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland. Adopted by news organizations, the military, and railroads, the almost instantaneous nature of telegraphs revolutionized communications and helped create a sense of nationhood. Eventually ordinary people (if they could afford the fee) could send fast messages called telegrams to friends and family anywhere in the country.