The end of an era: Whatever happened to the phone book?

TheAlmanac ^ | 1/7/23 | Karen Mansfield

[DallasBiff]

Alas, the poor phone book.

Once, it was the cornerstone of American connection, an indispensable resource people relied on to find pizza shops, plumbers, and the number of the cute girl in math class.

But now, when a new phone book lands on a homeowner’s doorstep, the tome most often gets tossed in the recycling bin.

They might be used to press flowers, or as a booster seat or a door stop, but fewer and fewer phone books are used for what they were originally intended, to look up telephone numbers.

[DallasBiff]

Haven't seen a phone book in 15 years.

I guess ask a kid today what the white pages were, they would say white privilage, and the yellow pages were racist against asians.

[waterhill]

We still get one every year. Henderson County. It’s quite small.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

We still get a phone book but it is thin and not very useful.

When we had a power outage I tried to find the number of the power company and it is not listed.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The irony is that you could quickly find what you wanted without the constant distractions of paid advertisements and endless dross and fluff. I’d wager the phone book is quicker than an internet search.

[xp38]

Same here. I suppose if you don’t have a land line you wouldn’t get one which is where I am now.

[Leaning Right]

And now it’s time for a related joke.

Visiting mom to daughter: “Quick, hand me a phone book!”
Daughter: “Oh, mom. Nobody uses one anymore. Use my cell phone.”

Mom squashes a spider with the cell phone, hands back a broken cell phone.

[hinckley buzzard]

I get a small local yellow pages about every other year. That’s it.

[JayGalt]

Don’t bet the farm.

[suekas]

We used to use the ones in NYC as booster seats.

[rktman]

Recycling bin? Nope.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I got two different phone books in my mail box a few weeks ago.
I’m not sure if I should throw them away or keep them as collectibles.

[Z28.310]

What ever happened to remembering phone numbers?

Oh...that’s right...our pocket computers, which are cooking or reproductive organs, do the thinking for us.

“Never mind”; said in my best Emily LaTella voice

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

We don’t even get a phone book anymore.

[Chode]

get one every year, 8”x10”... and i do use it on occasion

[metmom]

Our community still hands them out.

Course, they’re the thinnest things I’ve ever seen.

[Tijeras_Slim]

As a business owner in the early 80’s, I hated the Yellow Pages… they had you and they knew itl

[drwoof]

Agreed, 100%

[FamiliarFace]

Beat joke I’ve heard in a while. Thank you so very much!

[FamiliarFace]

Sorry, best joke.

[Bullish]

Or phone booths and cigarette machines that used to be everywhere.