How a Telegraph Cable Launched Tiffany & Co. to Fame

In August 1858, when the first transatlantic telegraph cable failed after just three weeks, most people saw disaster. Charles Lewis Tiffany saw opportunity. With no formal business education, the Manhattan fancy goods store owner acquired 20 miles of the defunct cable and transformed technological failure into one of history's most brilliant marketing campaigns.Tiffany cut the cable into four-inch souvenirs, mounted them with brass collars stamped "Atlantic Telegraph Cable—Guaranteed by Tiffany & Company," and sold them for just 50 cents. The crowds were so great that police had to be called. These humble cable segments—not diamonds or luxury goods—made Tiffany & Co. a household name across America. Today, those same souvenirs fetch premium prices at auction, but only if they bear the Tiffany name.This is the story of how a Connecticut cotton mill owner with entrepreneurial instincts turned a failed 19th-century technology into brand immortality, establishing marketing principles that Tiffany & Company still uses today.Subscribe to Hometown History for forgotten American history stories every week. New episodes release Tuesdays. Every hometown has a story—what's yours?The Story: When the first transatlantic telegraph cable failed in September 1858 after only three weeks of operation, Charles Lewis Tiffany saw what others missed: a marketing opportunity. The Manhattan store owner acquired 20 miles of the defunct cable and transformed it into one of American history's most successful product launches.Key Moments in This Episode:August 16, 1858 - First transatlantic telegraph message sent between Queen Victoria and President BuchananAugust 18, 1858 - USS Niagara docks at Brooklyn Navy Yard with excess cableAugust 24, 1858 - Tiffany & Co. places classified ad in New York Times announcing telegraph cable souvenirsSeptember 1, 1858 - Final message sent before cable fails completelyOctober 5, 1858 - Tiffany advertises remaining cable "by the mile at very low price"Key Figures:Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902) - Founded Tiffany & Co. in 1837 as a "fancy goods store"; leveraged telegraph cable failure into brand-building campaignCyrus Field - Led Atlantic Telegraph Company; provided Tiffany with authenticity certificate for cable segmentsSamuel Morse - Developed telegraph system in 1830s-40sWildman Whitehouse - Applied excessive voltage that destroyed the cableThe Marketing Innovation:Tiffany's strategy was revolutionary for its time:Made history accessible at 50 cents per four-inch segment ($19 today)Added brass collars inscribed with Tiffany & Co. guaranteeIncluded certificate of authenticity from Cyrus FieldCreated crowd-control problems due to demandEstablished Tiffany as a household name—not through luxury goods, but through clever marketingLegacy & Modern Value:Today, Tiffany telegraph cable souvenirs surface regularly at auctions. According to Manhattan antique dealer George Glazer: "People want the Tiffany name." Cable segments without the Tiffany brass collar have significantly lower value, even when provably authentic. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History maintains a collection of these souvenirs as important artifacts of 19th-century marketing history.Historical Context:The transatlantic telegraph represented a massive technological leap—the "internet moment" of its era. When it succeeded on August 5, 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called it "the greatest news of the hour, the year, the c