Slopfest #66 · 1992 · Vienna
Merry Christmas, Sent Early
The first text message said 'Merry Christmas' three weeks early. We sent ours in October, to be safe.
Museum status: On permanent loan to a museum that has not been informed.
- Venue
- Resselpark, Karlsplatz
- Attendance
- 8,750
- Also spotted
- A Beverly Hills, 90210 Starschnitt of Luke Perry and Jason Priestley, framed in tinsel
- Fun fact
- 160 characters, 145 of them exclamation marks
What happened
Every guest received a Christmas greeting on arrival, eight weeks early, on a paper slip limited to 160 characters. The committee spent a month editing its message to fit and ended up with 'Merry Christmas', which felt too short, so it added 145 exclamation marks.
Elsewhere in 1992
Engineer Neil Papworth sends the first SMS text message, 'Merry Christmas', from a computer to a mobile phone in the UK.
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