Cooke-Wheatstone Double-Needle Telegraph

ca. 1850's

About the same time as Morse was working on his telegraph in the U.S., Wheatstone and Cooke were developing a needle telegraph in England. Shown is a beautiful example of their two-needle version. Messages are sent by a series of needle deflections. The Cooke-Wheatstone telegraph system was popular in Europe but was eventually replaced with the simpler and more reliable Morse system.