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OL – GOL – XOL – NOL


By Birgitte Wistoft

No, this is not about electronic files with odd names, but about greetings to and from seafarers. Today satellite connections ensure immediate contact between sailors, their homes, and the shipping companies.


In "the old days", from the 1930’s to the 1970’s, the radio letter was a frequently used media. The coast radio station received the text from the ship’s radio, wrote it down on special letter forms, and sent it to the addressee ashore – and the other way round.

Ocean Letter (OL)

The precondition of this traffic was the development of radio technique in the beginning of the 20th century. The idea of radio letters came about in Germany already in 1911 and the British followed suit. With the introduction of shortwave telegraphy at the end of the twenties the way was opened for easy, cheap, and worldwide radio letter traffic. The shipping company DFDS was the first to introduce the service to Danish shipping, but they had to limit the traffic somewhat as the Post and Telegraph Service asserted their monopoly and introduced domestic radio letters to and from ships in 1934. The abbreviation OL was taken over by the Danish coast radio stations and used during the entire life of the radio letter.

Gift Ocean Letter (GOL)

A Danish idea that soon spread to other countries was to combine the ocean letter with a gift. It could be arranged through Messrs. Gave-Telegram A/S in Copenhagen; since 1932 operating both a gift telegram and a gift radio service.. In 1953 another company was established, Messrs. "Søgave" [Sea Gift]. By radio to the company a sailor would order a gift to be delivered to the recipient ashore. The shipping company would then see to it that payment for the gift as well as the delivery was deducted from his salary.

Christmas and New Year (XOL and NOL)

From 1934 to 1962 seafarers could send special Christmas and New Year ocean letters to their families and friends written on beautifully illustrated cards. Thereafter the ordinary radio letter form was used. The Christmas radio letters were telegraphed with a standard text. Instead of a long text you would send a number and the proper text would then be written on the cards. Greeting no. 3 was for instance: "Best wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy New Year". - Impersonal? Perhaps, but it is the thought that counts. And under all circumstances the standard texts were popular. It is said that the sailing telegraph operators transcribed Christmas radio letters on airmail paper and sent them from the nearest port when they had the time and opportunity. This saved quite some transmission time on the shortwave radio.

EXIT.OL

The years after World War II were the golden age of the radio letter. Ships often carried large crews and airmail had not yet had its real breakthrough. The peak was reached in 1957-60 when the coast stations handled 145-150,000 letters a year. In the time that followed, airmail and radio telephony eventually took over and the number of radio letters declined drastically. In 1972 the radio letters were abolished. They were later reintroduced as a communication offer for ships without the modern radio telex. The demand was, however, limited. At the end of the 1980’s less than one radio letter a month was handled.


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