Jewish people are the most social of all the various groups which go to make up the population of the United States.
A study of non-business telegrams, extending over a considerable period and just completed by statisticians of the Western Union Telegraph Company, shows that Jewish people send telegrams of congratulations and well wishing much more frequently than members of any other group. Noticeably heavy files of greeting messages were sent by Jews on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day and father’s Day.
Although Jewish people have shown great cordiality for all American holidays, the outstanding occasion for their sending greeting messages is Rosh Hashanah. the study shows. On this occasion thousands of messages are exchanged. It is not unusual for a rabbi to receive as many as 500 messages of greeting at this time. So great has the volume of this traffic become that the Western Union has instituted a special service similar to those for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. This special service, started in 1925, showed a 30 per cent. increase in 1926.
It is a common occurrence, the report continues, for a popular Jewish couple to receive as high as 50 telegrams of congratulations from relatives and friends on the occasion of their marriage. Births and Briths also are the occasion for numerous messages of congratulation. Jewish people are quick to express sympathy in time of trouble or bereavement and the total volume of messages of condolence sent in New York alone is greater than similar messages sent by all other groups combined, the Western Union records show.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
