Bell, Gray and the Invention of the Telephone

By the middle of the 1870s, telegraphy had become a truly global telecommunications system. Telegram traffic increased extremely quickly during the 1870s, and despite new lines being constructed at a rapid rate, it became difficult in many areas to handle the increased volume. Accordingly, the largest telegraph company in the United States, Western Union, offered a prize of USD 1 million for whoever was first to develop a system for the simultaneous transmission of several communications along a single wire, so-called multiplex telegraphy.)

Both Bell and Gray grappled with this challenge. As it happened, they both sought a similar solution to the problem, namely to send different sounds through the telegraph wires. Both quickly realized that such a method could be used to transmit speech, but they reacted in completely different ways to this revelation.)

In a letter to his patent attorney in October 1875, Gray wrote:

Previously, Elisha Gray (1835-1901) had been an established inventor within the telegraphy field and maintained close contact with Western Union. For him, it was natural to invest all of his efforts in multiplex telegraphy. He was also successful in developing a functioning system and won the prize that had been established.)

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) was originally a trained speech therapist and teacher of deaf students at the University of Boston. He devoted only his spare time to developing his inventions. However, when he realized the opportunities presented by transmission of speech, he became so fascinated that he concentrated all his efforts to the development of a “talking” telegraph.)

American Professor of technology and historian David Hounshell has stated that Elisha Gray had the disadvantage of being an expert. Gray was so wrapped up in the telegraphy industry and its way of perceiving the world that he was incapable of seeing the potential in a completely new type of system. The president of the United States’ largest telegraph company, Western Union, was equally incapable when Alexander Bell offered to sell him his telephone patent at the end of 1876. “We are not interested in a scientific toy,” was his answer to Bell.)

Bell formed his own company, Bell Telephone Company, which was soon engaged in a tough legal battle about patent rights with Western Union, which had purchased Gray’s patent. The Bell Company emerged victorious and had a monopoly in regard to the telephone in the US, right up to the middle of the 1890s.)