Common:
* Letters: The most common way to communicate over long distances. People would write letters to family, friends, and loved ones, and these letters would be sent by post.
* Telegrams: Used for urgent messages, telegrams were sent over telegraph lines and delivered quickly, though still slower than today's instant messaging.
* Telephone: Becoming more common, but still a luxury for many, especially in rural areas.
* Face-to-face conversation: For local communication, this remained the primary way to interact.
* Newspapers: The primary source of information for most people.
Less common:
* Morse code: Still used for long-distance communication, especially by the military and ships.
* Semaphore flags: Used for visual communication, primarily by ships and the military.
* Pigeon post: Used by the military for carrying messages, particularly during wartime.
Things that didn't exist yet:
* Radio broadcasting: While radio technology existed, it was in its early stages and not yet widely used for public broadcasting.
* Television: Television was still decades away.
* Internet: The internet, of course, did not exist.
* Mobile phones: The concept of a mobile phone was still science fiction.
Key takeaways:
* Communication in 1916 was slower and more limited than today.
* Long-distance communication relied heavily on written letters and telegrams.
* Face-to-face conversation was still the primary way to interact locally.
* Technology was evolving, with the telephone and radio showing promise for the future.