Hypertext in the Paper Age
We start in the mid-1880s, where we find an ancient (by technology standards) device known as the telautograph. After Alexander Graham Bell patented the technology for transmitting voice over the telephone, inventors became interested in the idea of transmitting handwriting by wire. The telautograph reproduced handwriting and drawings by transmitting the movements of an electromagnetically-controlled pen along a line to a similar pen at the receiving end. Elisha Gray, the man who lost the telephone patent to Bell, was the first to develop and patent a practical version of a telegraphic writing machine, and it was Gray who coined the term telautograph. Telegraphic writing was allegedly quite a sensation at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and two years later an improved version of the machine transmitted handwriting a stunning 431 miles from Cleveland to Chicago.
Using a telautograph, it was technically possible for one person writing from a single location to replicate his output simultaneously at any number of receiving points, limited only by how many connections were available. This is the earliest known practical implementation of a function we now see daily in Web-based chat rooms. The telautograph managed to find a niche next to the rapidly expanding telegraph and telephone industry, mainly in areas where high noise levels made using a telegraph or telephone impractical. For example, telautographs were often used in railroad stations to keep baggage and mail handlers informed of train movements.
The telautograph also had military applications. An early high point was its selection by the U.S. Army in the late 1890s for fire-control communication in America's coastal defense system. Before the advent of air power and submarines, the main defenses America relied upon to protect against enemy attack were the coastal artillery batteries. The guns were aimed on the basis of data received from observers stationed some distance away, so the Army needed a reliable method to transmit the data. However, the noise in the gun pits was, as you may expect, quite deafening when the batteries were firing. Using a telephone or telegraph under these conditions was not practical. So, telautographs were installed in most important American coastal forts on both coasts. The military version of the telautograph was designed for ruggedness and reliability. The receivers were enclosed in heavy brass, waterproof cases suspended on shockproof mounts. Messages appeared behind a plate glass window, allowing the operator to read the messages without opening the case. An electric bulb inside the case allowed night reading. However, none of these coastal guns were ever fired at an enemy, so this first implementation of hypertext was never tested in battle.
OK, you're probably thinking, "That's an interesting bit of trivia, but what does it have to do with watching QuickTime movies of Super Bowl commercials on my Web browser?" While the telautograph may not be the epitome of graphical systems, it was the first. And it did produce some ripples in the technology pond decades later during World War II.

A Brief History of Personal Computing Part IV: "How the Web Was Won" by Retired Major Dale J. Long, USAF CHIPS - The Department of the Navy Information Technology Magazine Spring 2003. http://www.chips.navy.mil/archives/03_spring/webpages/DaleSpring2003.htm