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The end of an era: Whatever happened to the phone book?
TheAlmanac ^ | 1/7/23 | Karen Mansfield

Posted on 05/22/2024 6:40:22 PM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at thealmanac.net ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Business/Economy; History
KEYWORDS: phonebook
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To: Round Earther

41 posted on 05/22/2024 9:09:51 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

I have had that happen too.


42 posted on 05/22/2024 9:10:20 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (God save the United States!)
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To: DallasBiff

How Adam West played a prank using his local phone book

https://boingboing.net/2017/06/10/how-adam-west-played-a-prank-u.html


43 posted on 05/22/2024 9:10:51 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: mairdie

I know my phone number, but nobody else’s. When I was a kid I knew so many friends numbers (and still do). I still remember mine as a kid too.


44 posted on 05/22/2024 9:12:47 PM PDT by napscoordinator (DeSantis is a beast! Florida is the freest state in the country! )
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To: napscoordinator

There aren’t a lot of numbers or passwords I remember, but I DO remember my mouseketeer number, 242001. Those were the days. You could date someone by whether or not they remembered Captain Video’s secret decoder ring.


45 posted on 05/22/2024 9:18:27 PM PDT by mairdie (Trump (I Will Win) - Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma https://youtu.be/MigUKGKr-nQ)
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To: DallasBiff

When I was a kid we had two phone books.
One book was the regular one and was a directory
of the names....

The other was a directory of the actual numbers in numerical order so if you had someone’s number you could look in that book and get their address and name.


46 posted on 05/22/2024 10:35:00 PM PDT by Bobalu (I can’t even feign surprise anymore.)
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To: DallasBiff

Free firestarter, delivered for free.


47 posted on 05/22/2024 11:59:42 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

I guess I’m a better web surfer than you are.

But it must be rough to be a kid these days. If you want that cute girl’s phone number you might find it on a website but you have to pay.


48 posted on 05/23/2024 12:17:19 AM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: MRadtke

” Open the nearest cupboard door and the inside of that door would be full of phone numbers jotted down.”

“’Cause my uncle took a message, and he wrote it on the wall”


49 posted on 05/23/2024 12:25:32 AM PDT by rxh4n1
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To: DallasBiff

The first phone book was a single page printed in New Haven, Connecticut. It listed about 15;people and businesses.


50 posted on 05/23/2024 3:12:03 AM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Guns don't kill people, LIBERALS DO!! Support the Second Amendment...)
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To: DallasBiff

We stopped receiving them shortly after I got good at tearing them in half with my bare hands.


51 posted on 05/23/2024 4:06:19 AM PDT by KingLudd
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To: DallasBiff

if the only source of information is digital, it is easier to control the information/the people


52 posted on 05/23/2024 4:19:07 AM PDT by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: DallasBiff

We stopped getting them when the county discovered the recycle bins they handed out were useless - probably had phone books as the only recyclables for 2 years before ending the program...


53 posted on 05/23/2024 5:33:28 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

“Find X near me” on the internet doesn’t always give me everything”.
.
The internet also doesn’t keep up with local businesses that have closed shop—or recently moved.


54 posted on 05/23/2024 5:45:42 AM PDT by Does so ( 🇺🇦....We are in the later stages of a Communist takeover...)
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To: DallasBiff

What happened? Chuck Norris ripped them in half. All of them. At the same time.


55 posted on 05/23/2024 5:48:07 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to kill us. Plan to avoid this.)
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To: DallasBiff

I STILL GET A PHONE BOOK.

I STILL USE IT.

I ONLY HAVE LAND LINE


56 posted on 05/23/2024 9:07:56 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

LOOK ON YOUR POWER BILL


57 posted on 05/23/2024 9:08:26 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: MRadtke

The kitchen of the farm I was raised on...1940’s—1950’s.


58 posted on 05/23/2024 9:14:09 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: napscoordinator

MY Dad could never REMEMBER his number-—

HE said “I NEVER CALL MYSELF”.


59 posted on 05/23/2024 9:16:07 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: ridesthemiles

I did. But the power bill was filed in the office which is down stairs and very dark so I tried the phone book which was upstairs and near the oil lamp first.


60 posted on 05/23/2024 9:20:47 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Roses are red, Violets are blue, I love being on the government watch list, along with all of you.)
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