Feb 22, 2020 : Phone Book

Ever see a person rip a phone book (Telephone Directory to old maid English teachers) in half?
I can do that, I'll show you with a copy of the first phone book from New Haven, CT, in February of 1878.



And starting March 1st they will be open all night, probably because there had to be an operator on duty.

The last phone book we got (they leave them on your porch) did not have a single person listed, only businesses.

And I'm assuming they're the businesses what paid for the book...

Yeah, they're just yellow pages these days. I wonder if they still charge extra for an unlisted number?

They do, at least around here--nowadays it means showing up as "private caller" on everyone's caller ID.

OK, I wasn't offered that option that I know of, but if that comes up on the caller ID I don't answer it, although lately I've been picking it up for a second to break the connection so they can't leave a voicemail trying to sell me something. Other cell phone calls just show the number so I have a very short list of the ones I want to talk to next to the phone.