Edison, on the other hand, was a "tramp telegrapher" with below-average
skills. His moves from place to place and office to office were
usually preceded and motivated by a job dismissal. Still unable
to submit to authority and structure, Edison often put his jobs
in jeopardy by experimenting when he was on the job or using the
delicate equipment for his own projects. The fact that he had little
trouble finding jobs in new cities speaks to the demand for telegraphers
at the time.
At the same time, Edison's blossoming as an inventor was
greatly helped by his experience as a telegrapher. He benefited
from the long stretches of time in which he was left alone to think
and fiddle with experiments. Because it was such a new and important
invention, the world of the telegraph operator was one of challenges, problem
solving, and innovation. And witnessing the ruthless bargaining,
price cuts, and business proposals of Western Union, which eventually
became the top telegraph operator in the midwestern United States,
helped Edison get an idea of the economic marketplace. Edison picked
up many successful business practices from Western Union.
The Court Street factory is an important landmark in American invention
history. It was here that Alexander Graham Bell first worked on
telephone technology. Other important inventors, like Thomas Hall
(electric-motored toy trains) and Joseph Stearns (the duplex telegraph
system), also lived in the same building and would frequent the
factory to discuss ideas. Edison drank up the opportunity to meet
some of his future colleagues (and business rivals) and to get
an idea of the world into which he would soon be entering.
