Video: the world's oldest telephone book

Last year, Christie's auctioned off the world's oldest telephone book. It's from 1878 and features both a residential directory and a "yellow pages." It's only 40 pages and doesn't contain a single telephone number, just the names of those who have service. IEEE Spectrum has a fun little video about the 1878 New Haven Telephone Directory.

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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David Pescovitz

I wish my phone number was 6. Or at least 666.
Ugly Canuck

City directories are still around too and can be quite useful.
diggerdoug

Your link is bad, it’s linking to the lego-simpsons.
notpeter

Here’s link the to video:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/video?id=541
And no mention of the fact it sold for $170k?
Roy Trumbull

City directories gave people’s addresses. They go back to the 1800s. The telephone book was an outgrowth.
Ugly Canuck

If you ever get to Baddeck Nova Scotia go to the Alexander Graham bell Museum, it is worth a visit.
They have early telephones from the first exchange in Canada, set up near Brantford, Oontario.
The phone number was ’6′, displayed on the dial.
Ugly Canuck

The entire exchange had 12 telephones IIRC.