General Chat

I didnt know when Yellow pages started, but we had the lot when we were first married and had our own phone line.

Off on a tangent, there was a women who used to tear directories in half on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.. :-0 :-0 :-D :-D

Yellow pages didn’t start until 1966.

I’d forgotten that the books were different colours to make the letter group.

Our house had a shared line in the 50’s. I remember sitting on the window sill with younger brother listening in to next door. Naughty :-D

I can remember 4 for the London area.

A-D Yellow
E-K Pink
L-R Green
S-Z Blue

Plus Yellow Pages.

They needed a shelf to themself. :-0 :-D

I can’t see that happening now due to privacy.

Anyone remember those huge London directories - was it 2 or 3 to cover the alphabet.

In 2 areas where I use to live, a local directory of all villages within one area were included. All the names, house numbers plus businesses. It was really useful but the expense of it being produced and the work getting all the info collected took a long time. so the books were only reproduced every 5 years and one cost £15!

But I have kept one from over 20 years ago as it s also a history book with many names now no longer with us and is useful for trying to remember someone or a certain family. Very helpful at xmas when sending cards to people whom I don't see often as it contains all their full addresses.

It feels very sad that yet another thing we knew all our lives is now only part of history.

But I must confess that I can't remember the last time I looked up a number in the physical phone book.
The most recent one I have in the house is for 2018-19, and it hadn't even occurred to me that I hadn't received any since then .

If looking for a business phone number, it's easy to Google it, and many businesses weren't in the phone book in any case..

One of my neighbours compiles a small booklet of local village phone numbers, both private and business, which is extremely useful. He charges a minimal amount, in aid of a local charity.

Gwyn, I remember mums dining room stacked with directories and I put down the back seat in my little Fiesta and then loaded up with books.

I might add that at the time, we thought it was an easy job for some easy money! But we probably like your daughter had a deadline to get them all delivered by. So we soon realised it was jolly hard work.

Florence
I remember those deliveries, as needless to say, I got roped in to help.
As you say, we weren't allowed to leave a directory where it could be seen from the road, but I think we could tuck it away and leave it out of general view.

We did both Yellow Pages and BT Directories for several years and daughter sometimes managed to get our local area, so it was easier to nip out and deliver a few say after school run.
Loading up the car to go further afield took up so much room and still needed another visit often.

I kept the final edition of the BT book and Yellow Pages as in the future they might be considered "collectors items" lol

My mum and I one year for extra pennies decided to deliver the phone books around where we lived. Oh my, the weight of carrying several at a time and then if no reply when you knocked, you had to revisit that address again as wasn't allowed to leave on the doorstep.

Mum & I got paid the sum of £150 for delivering £1000 books! After we had finished and split the money, I said never again, it was slave labour!

Florence in the hebrides

The last phone book we got was 2021 and I probably had to request it. Years ago we had a lovely man delivering them, he was well aware that we were right on the edge of the book area and would always have some copies of the next area, which was our nearest town

My directory which was delivered last year has a 'Final Edition. Hold on to it forever.' label printed on it!

I think a lot of people are ex-directory. I agree that the latest phone book is very thin!!

I have just googled BT and the phone book site is quite different from what it was - a fancy updated site, which includes a bit about the history of the phone book, and says "right up to our newly revamped website". You can look people up by name or you can also, I think, enter a number and see who it was ringing you.

It doesn't sound as though they are about to scrap it. :-S

I know our last phone book was really thin compared to the massive ... and heavy.. BT books that daughter used to deliver for an extra bit of money each year.

I guess not so many people are with BT now and their service no longer offers what is required by their customers.

I didn't know about stopping the online listing.

I've just read that BT have already scapped their phone books but they are also about to scap their online version :-|