50 Things That Made The Modern Economy

We often don't notice vital infrastructure until something goes wrong.

So it was at Citibank London in the 1960s.

On the first floor, payment instructions were inserted into a canister and sent up stairs

via vacuum tube.

On the second floor, a team confirmed the transactions and sent their authorisations back down the

pipe.

One day, the payments department on the first floor were receiving none of the authorisations

they needed.

Someone was sent up stairs, where the confirmation team had been idly wandering why all was quiet.

It turned out that the vacuum tube had become locked.

Citibank's payment processing operations were duly restored with the assistance of a chimney

sweep.

Confirming large financial transactions is hard.

It's even harder across national or international borders.

Since the development of the telegraph in the first half of the 19th century, sending

instructions has been quick enough, but quick doesn't necessarily mean foolproof, as

Frank Primrose of Philadelphia Woolbroker was to realise.

In June 1887, Mr. Primrose sent a message to his agent in Kansas about buying wool.

Because the Western Union telegraph company charged by the word, the message was in code

to save money.

They all kinds quo, it was supposed to read.

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