Thursday, November 11, 2010


I learned today that telecommunication companies are going to stop printing the white pages of telephone directories. Apparently, the white pages aren’t used much anymore. Only the old folks use the telephone directory and they can’t see well enough to read the print, so the directories will now be history. They were once an importance resource for obtaining information on people, like their phone number and address. Since cord phones are now becoming extinct that is even another reason for the white pages to be discontinued.

Most folks now get a telephone number off the internet or have to personally be given a number. The number is then entered into your cell phone contact list. So, there is no longer need for a directory. Now, I just page through my contact list and hit a button and the number is automatically dialed.

Telephone Directories have served many purposes in the past. They were used by he-men to tear and demonstrate their incredible strength. At one time, I could even tear the directory for my home town because it only contained a few names and was pretty thin. Those little directories disappeared a few years ago and all the small towns were included as a section in a larger directory containing all the surrounding cities. I don’t like those directories because I always have trouble finding the little towns for which I am searching. The directories also became more difficult to use. One number that is almost impossible to find is the one for directory assistance.

I don’t know what they are going to put in the bedside tables of hotels anymore. The Gideon Bibles are being phased out because they aren’t politically correct and now without the telephone directory there is nothing for the hotels. I will miss them in the hotels because they were a source of entertainment as I thumbed through the pages in search of a long lost friend who I though might have move to the city I was visiting. I wouldn’t have called them, but was just interested to know if they were alive.

I hope the yellow pages go away with the white. Maybe all those folks from India will stop calling me. There is going to be a lot of these people out of work. Maybe they will start a white page directory of their own as a new line of business.

Anyway, this is one less book for my stack on the porch. I really never liked the directories anyway. I still loved the time of my childhood when an operator would answer and say, “number please.” If I didn’t know the number she would connect me to the correct party by just giving the name. In our small town the operator knew all the numbers and I think she listened in on a lot of interesting conversations. That would have been a neat job.

2 Comments:

Blogger B(O)B said...

"In our small town the operator knew all the numbers and I think she listened in on a lot of interesting conversations." -- JLM

The same was true in my home town of Alliance, NE (pop.6800). We were one of the first towns in the Northwestern Bell system to be converted entirely to "Touchtone".

7:40 AM  
Blogger jeff ludwick said...

I hope that San Saba never does away with their white pages. With a population of only 2,800 I can carry it in my back pocket and keep up with all the divorces and where everyone lives. we are only a few years removed from having a party line so we are enjoying "progress"....

9:58 AM  

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