The exhibition takes place on the occasion of the donation of the collection of authentic (vintage) telegrams by Michael Tsipidis to the OTE Telecommunications Museum.

70 original telegrams are presented, mainly of commercial nature, from the different telegraph services in Thessaloniki from 1870 until 1956 [the Ottoman Imperial Telegraphic Service, the Bulgarian, the Serbian, the English Eastern Telegraph Company and its evolution, the Cable and Wireless, the English Cable Telegraph Company, the Greek Postal Telegraph and Telephone Service and OTE (Organization of Telecommunications of Greece)].

The visitor, thus, follows a part of the history of Thessaloniki, told through few words, through transactions, even through the censored telegrams.

These are connected by contrast with today’s photos by Spyros Staveris. The images are based on messages of selected by the photographer telegrams, bringing thereby a dialogue between words and images: words of the past feed images of nowadays, always having the same scenery, the city of Thessaloniki.

The present collection of Michael Tsipidis includes more than 300 original telegraphs and in 2012 it was donated to the OTE Telecommunications Museum.

The exhibition also includes a film (5.30 ”), which shows an interview with the collector Michael Tsipidis. Furthermore, four items are presented (table telegraphy controller, millimeter, table selector telegraphy, table electromagnet) from the permanent collection of the OTE Telecommunications Museum.