Blast from the past: Chunky phone books
Both were hefty beasts that would thud on the doorstep.
More than just a tool for finding people or businesses, they served as doorstops, booster seats and steps.
Ripping the fat books in half used to be a classic trial for a strongman.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBut in environmental terms having such large books of paper was incredibly wasteful. Also, with the rise of the internet, their use became redundant.
The Yellow Pages stopped printing in January 2019 after more than five decades, as it’s owner Yell took the decision to fully digitise the business.
BT’s telephone directory (or white pages) was printed in a thinned down version, covering a smaller geographic, around 2010. This meant it could fit through letterboxes. Numbers are now available online and BT provides a copy of the Phone book covering local areas every 12 months. Non-BT customers can buy a copy.
I remember both the Yellow Pages and the phone directory. They were housed in a cupboard in the telephone seat (remember those?) in the hallway.
As a teenager, many happy an hour was spent flicking through the pages, looking for a love interest’s phone number, finding their family name and then being too rung out to ring!