WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Phone Books

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. Josh, Chuck, cherit, Dave,

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<v Speaker 1>let's go nostalgic.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. I mean, there's a slew of websites you

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<v Speaker 2>used to research this, but I mean, honestly, we could

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<v Speaker 2>just say from our own brains because there wasn't a

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<v Speaker 2>lot in here that like, we just didn't know as

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<v Speaker 2>growing up in the time that we grow up again

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<v Speaker 2>because it is about phone books, and if you're of

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<v Speaker 2>a certain age, you know exactly what we're talking about.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're not of a certain age yet, you might

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<v Speaker 2>be surprised to know that. At a certain point in time,

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<v Speaker 2>if you wanted to, I don't know, take your car

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<v Speaker 2>to the shop or find a florist or a dry cleaner,

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<v Speaker 2>you couldn't just go on the internet to do that

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<v Speaker 2>or whip out your phone. You would bring out a

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<v Speaker 2>seventeen pound book that was eight inches thick, drop it

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<v Speaker 2>on your kitchen table and wake up your entire family

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<v Speaker 2>on a Saturday morning, and you would start letting your oh,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not going to say it. You would start thumbing

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<v Speaker 2>through that thing, looking under the florists section or the

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<v Speaker 2>laundromat section to find a business to give your money

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<v Speaker 2>to Yeah, it's very cute.

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<v Speaker 1>That is how you found businesses. It's how you found

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<v Speaker 1>people too, because the business part was in the second

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<v Speaker 1>half of the phone book. It was all in yellow pages.

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<v Speaker 1>The first part was white pages, and those were residential listings.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, or they were two different books entirely.

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<v Speaker 1>It could be if you lived in a fancy pants area,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, like Atlanta, like Westchester or something like that. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>the white pages. This is another thing. The reason I

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<v Speaker 1>love doing this one, Chuck, is because this is to

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<v Speaker 1>me the first time we can be like you have

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<v Speaker 1>grown up in a world where you can't really understand

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<v Speaker 1>the world that this thing existed in in Shakesure. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a great example of it. And one of the

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<v Speaker 1>things that stuck out to me was explaining the white pages,

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<v Speaker 1>where you you could go and say, I'm looking for

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<v Speaker 1>Charles W. Chuck Bryant. So I'm going to go to

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<v Speaker 1>the B's of the white pages and start looking through

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<v Speaker 1>the Bryan's until I find all the Charles. And I

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<v Speaker 1>know Chuck lives in Atlanta, so I'm going to find

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck's address in Atlanta, and then at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>that is Chuck's phone number and I'm going to pick

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<v Speaker 1>up my phone and dial the numbers that is in

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<v Speaker 1>this publicly available book. Maybe even I'll get tired of

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<v Speaker 1>waiting the for him to answer, I'll hang up and

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<v Speaker 1>just drive to his house, which I now know exactly

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<v Speaker 1>where it is, because his address is listed under his

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<v Speaker 1>full name with his phone number in the phone book,

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<v Speaker 1>along with everybody else in town.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and you would just knock on my door if

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<v Speaker 2>you wanted to speak to me. And I know that

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<v Speaker 2>we were sending a large number of our listeners into

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<v Speaker 2>a complete and utter panic. Yeah, at the thought of

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<v Speaker 2>someone knocking on their door just to pop in and

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<v Speaker 2>say hello or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>But just think about how much the world has changed

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<v Speaker 1>in that respect.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, you don't even call someone anymore without texting

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<v Speaker 2>him to say, can I call right now? No, it's

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<v Speaker 2>very strange.

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<v Speaker 1>It is. This is a different world.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a totally different world. The uh well, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>another funny tangent to that is, I also remember a

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<v Speaker 2>day where if you were like, let's say, you knew

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<v Speaker 2>someone's name, but you didn't really know where they lived,

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<v Speaker 2>and you didn't know them that well, so you needed

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<v Speaker 2>their phone number, so you looked it up and they

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<v Speaker 2>were like six Josh Clark's and you would start calling

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<v Speaker 2>random Josh Clark's and say, are you the Josh Clark

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<v Speaker 2>that I met at camp summer camp this summer or

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<v Speaker 2>the parents of so like you would go like, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>that's the whole plot of the Initial Terminators. He's killing

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<v Speaker 2>random Sarah Connors. Oh yeah, because he looks up Sarah

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<v Speaker 2>Connor in the phone book.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but you would totally do that. I did that too.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean like you would do something like that and

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<v Speaker 1>it was and.

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<v Speaker 2>People understood would be like, oh, that's a different guy.

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<v Speaker 1>Sorry, good luck, good luck.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh man, so quaint and this is not like three

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<v Speaker 2>hundred years ago. The other thing I did not know.

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<v Speaker 2>Actually when I said, I knew all this in my

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<v Speaker 2>brain and it totally makes sense now all this. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>the businesses themselves were advertised within the floral section or

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<v Speaker 2>the laundromat section. And that's why you would see like

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<v Speaker 2>a one plumber or a one florist is because they

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<v Speaker 2>would be listed first. I never knew that, and I

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<v Speaker 2>feel like a dummy because it's so obvious.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh no, I mean like that's but yeah, that's what

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<v Speaker 1>I would call my business we should have called this

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<v Speaker 1>a one stuff you Should Know.

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<v Speaker 2>Podcast, right, A one podcast?

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<v Speaker 1>Right? Yeah, no, it totally makes sense. It was called

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<v Speaker 1>gaming the system. I think that's right. So for about

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred years, like this is how you made contact

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<v Speaker 1>with the outside world. This is how you searched for

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<v Speaker 1>things in the outside world. It's really hard to wrap

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<v Speaker 1>your head around now, but you just pull a book

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<v Speaker 1>out and I say, we take a little break, come

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<v Speaker 1>back and talk a little more about the history of

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<v Speaker 1>the phone book after well this break, let's do it. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>now we're on the road, driving in your truck.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to learn a thing or two from Josh

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<v Speaker 2>pm Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>It's stuff you should.

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<v Speaker 2>Know, all right, All right, we're back. We're talking phone books.

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<v Speaker 2>The first phone directory we talked a little bit about

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<v Speaker 2>in our Telephone episode. I think it was published in

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen seventy eight New Haven, Connecticut and had about fifty

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<v Speaker 2>subscribers that's what they were called at the time, on

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<v Speaker 2>a single piece of paper, listed as phones, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>spread around. Obviously, the phone book got bigger and bigger,

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<v Speaker 2>to the point where, like I mentioned, we had a

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<v Speaker 2>full white pages and a full yellow pages, and they

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<v Speaker 2>were very big books. I think the last editions of

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<v Speaker 2>the New York City. Well maybe not the last, because

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<v Speaker 2>there are still phone books if you have a landline,

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<v Speaker 2>believe it or not, But the New York City phone

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<v Speaker 2>books came in multiple volumes at the last quarter of

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<v Speaker 2>the twentieth century, and they were so thick that like,

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<v Speaker 2>if you were a kid in high school, you might

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<v Speaker 2>have a strong person team come around to do a

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<v Speaker 2>little show for you at an afternoon assembly, and inevitably

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<v Speaker 2>they would blow up a hot water bottle and burst

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<v Speaker 2>it and till it burst, and they would somebody would

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<v Speaker 2>rip a phone book in half, which was seemingly really

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<v Speaker 2>hard to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, I do I have no recollection of seeing an

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<v Speaker 1>assembly like that, Like did you see that? It sounds like,

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<v Speaker 1>oh yeah, that's a first hand to count.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah, we had a strong strong man team come

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<v Speaker 2>around and do like feats of strength for the high

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<v Speaker 2>school afternoon.

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<v Speaker 1>Did they like legitimize it by just saying like, also

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<v Speaker 1>don't do drugs at the end? Oh?

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<v Speaker 2>Probably?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Wow, that's really something. Yeah, I don't remember we

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<v Speaker 1>I don't remember anything like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Where'd you think they ripped up phone books? Just like

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<v Speaker 2>that's incredible or whatever?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>I got to see it live. Buddy.

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<v Speaker 1>Wow, go Redan hs. That's right, the Redan Redheads.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the Raiders.

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<v Speaker 1>That was close. Yeah. So one of the things like

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<v Speaker 1>if you were if you had a phone, like you

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<v Speaker 1>just got a phone book, it was free, like they

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<v Speaker 1>were disposable, Like you just thought nothing of the phone book.

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<v Speaker 1>But it turns out they were like big, big business

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<v Speaker 1>for AT and T and then later on for a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of other companies, but AT and T, according to

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<v Speaker 1>a nineteen eighty six article. The article said that eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>T made seven billion dollars just off of the money

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<v Speaker 1>it charged businesses across the country to be listed in

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<v Speaker 1>the Yellow Pages. And that's like thirteen billion dollars today.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a lot. That's like lunch at Apple.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean there's a ton of money. And I

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<v Speaker 2>even looked up. I was like, I wonder if there

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<v Speaker 2>was a sort of a weird little hidden search charge

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<v Speaker 2>for like the customer to be listed. And apparently not.

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<v Speaker 2>Apparently you were never ever charged to be listed in

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<v Speaker 2>the phone book. You did have to pay to get unlisted,

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<v Speaker 2>which a lot of states eventually like introduced like house

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<v Speaker 2>bills and stuff. They're like this is a scam. You

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<v Speaker 2>can't just list somebody's name and address and say you

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<v Speaker 2>got to pay us to not do that extortion. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>so I think a lot of those ended up being successful.

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<v Speaker 2>But you know, AT and T was selling those not

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<v Speaker 2>only just a spot in the Yellow Pages, but you

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<v Speaker 2>could pay a lot more money to get like larger

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<v Speaker 2>ads and stuff in the Yellow Pages to get more notice,

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<v Speaker 2>and they would market that stuff. And you know almost

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<v Speaker 2>said it earlier, but I didn't want to let it slip.

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<v Speaker 2>But a very famous one it was in nineteen sixty two.

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<v Speaker 2>I could have sworn it was the seventies, because it

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<v Speaker 2>clearly went through the seventies was let your Fingers do

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<v Speaker 2>the Walking ad campaign, the idea of, hey, let your

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<v Speaker 2>fingers do the walking instead of your body, Like, don't

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<v Speaker 2>walk around downtown looking for your florist, just let your

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<v Speaker 2>fingers do that and then give them a call instead, exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>And I mean that was kind of revolutionary as far

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<v Speaker 1>as things went, at least in the mid century. And

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<v Speaker 1>I said that AT and T made a bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>money off of the Yellow Pages. The reason why it

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<v Speaker 1>was just them is because they had a monopoly on

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<v Speaker 1>the phone system in the US, which I'm sure we

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<v Speaker 1>covered as well in that phone exchange up. So, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was finally broken up. The government granted monopoly. They're like,

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<v Speaker 1>you guys are too big. We're going to break you

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<v Speaker 1>up into regional providers like Northwestern Bell, Southern Bell, that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of stuff. And so all of those companies, these

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<v Speaker 1>subcompanies now were printing Yellow Pages and they were making money.

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<v Speaker 1>But because Bell no longer had a monopoly, that also

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<v Speaker 1>opened the door for private companies to start making their

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<v Speaker 1>own Yellow Pages. There was just a lot of money

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<v Speaker 1>and walking around because this is how people found businesses.

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<v Speaker 1>It was either driving past and seeing a business that

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<v Speaker 1>had their phone number on the sign, or you went

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<v Speaker 1>to the Yellow Pages. It was as simple as that.

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<v Speaker 1>So you had a lot of incentive to advertise in

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<v Speaker 1>the yellow Pages, and so companies had a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>incentive to publish Yellow Pages. And so the number of

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<v Speaker 1>phone books that came to one person's house started to boom.

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<v Speaker 1>I think in the nineteen nineties in some parts of California,

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<v Speaker 1>you might get ten different phone books delivered to your

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<v Speaker 1>house every night. Year. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And you know, obviously, especially in a place like California,

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<v Speaker 2>or you know, Washington State, Seattle, Washington. People would be like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>wait a minute, this is like a pretty awful thing

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<v Speaker 2>to do, like the amount of waste that's happening here.

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<v Speaker 2>I remember early I mean this is a long time

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<v Speaker 2>ago now, but not that long ago. But the Internet

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<v Speaker 2>was around, and there were still phone books being delivered,

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<v Speaker 2>and I remember seeing a comedian joke about I think

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<v Speaker 2>the joke was something up printing a small portion of

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<v Speaker 2>the Internet and throwing it on my porch once a year.

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<v Speaker 2>I thought that was pretty funny. But everyone, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>it's pretty clear, like what a wasteful thing. I think

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<v Speaker 2>half a billion phone books were being delivered six hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and fifty thousand tons of paper every year by nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>ninety one, enough to fill up two million cubic yards

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<v Speaker 2>of landfill space, even though you could probably recycle that stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>So they initially started doing like recycled paper and stuff

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<v Speaker 2>like that. Seattle, like I mentioned, I think was one

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<v Speaker 2>of the first ones to say, like, you know, we're

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<v Speaker 2>gonna start charging phone book makers fourteen since per phone

0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.040
<v Speaker 2>book delivered within the city. And if people elect to

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<v Speaker 2>not have a phone book, but they still throw one

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<v Speaker 2>on your porch, like that's a one hundred and fifty

0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:28.720
<v Speaker 2>dollars five Yeah.

0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.040
<v Speaker 1>Knowing me, justice police, I would have been I would

0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.120
<v Speaker 1>have immediately gone to the trouble of filling out like

0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.839
<v Speaker 1>the five page form to complain, to make sure that

0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:37.240
<v Speaker 1>that company got fined out.

0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.720
<v Speaker 2>I totally would. Yeah, I opted out.

0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:42.960
<v Speaker 1>You've got a touch of the justice police in Youtuo

0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:43.800
<v Speaker 1>for youah for sure?

0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Yeah neither. Yeah. We don't like bad guys getting

0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.240
<v Speaker 2>away with stuff justice. Yeah.

0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:55.160
<v Speaker 1>So despite the environmental thing, I think basically converting to

0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.480
<v Speaker 1>recycled paper helped a lot of people in training. People

0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.359
<v Speaker 1>like you said, like these things can actually be easily recycled.

0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.120
<v Speaker 1>That kind of simmered people down about the environmental part.

0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.199
<v Speaker 1>So that's not what did away with phone books. There

0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.840
<v Speaker 1>were like three things in pretty quick secession that really

0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:15.440
<v Speaker 1>started to take the Yellow Pages down at least so

0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.520
<v Speaker 1>four on one that was information all of a sudden,

0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.080
<v Speaker 1>you could dial that for free starting in the eighties,

0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.120
<v Speaker 1>and now you didn't even have to look in the

0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.080
<v Speaker 1>phone book. You could just call up and be like,

0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:27.840
<v Speaker 1>just start reading some plumbers' names off to me in

0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:28.720
<v Speaker 1>their phone numbers.

0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you would call someone to read you the phone exactly,

0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:36.720
<v Speaker 2>that's right. And then, of course, you know, the Internet

0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:40.640
<v Speaker 2>coming along had everything to do with it. And also

0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:42.840
<v Speaker 2>in two thousand and four, Congress passed a law that

0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.680
<v Speaker 2>said you can't put cell phone numbers in phone books,

0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.439
<v Speaker 2>so they were on the way to doing that. So

0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.080
<v Speaker 2>it basically was whittled down to just landlines. And then

0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:54.440
<v Speaker 2>once the Internet came around, as far as businesses go,

0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.040
<v Speaker 2>the Yellow Pages wasn't as necessary. But you know they're

0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:02.760
<v Speaker 2>all still around because there are still landlines. And you

0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:06.040
<v Speaker 2>know who advertises in the Yellow Pages? Still who ricks

0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.320
<v Speaker 2>in a bogan? Emily's dad and Seneco Glass, his auto

0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:15.440
<v Speaker 2>glass repair shop in Cayuga Falls, Ohio. Unless it's changed.

0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:18.440
<v Speaker 2>We were talking one day and he was like, yeah,

0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.120
<v Speaker 2>I still advertise in the Yellow Pages. A lot of

0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.000
<v Speaker 2>people around here still use landlines, still look stuff up

0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:23.679
<v Speaker 2>in the Yellow Pages.

0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:25.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. There was a poll that found, I think in

0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.200
<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty four, more than fifty million homes in the

0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.880
<v Speaker 1>US still have a landline. So that means that unless

0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:33.880
<v Speaker 1>they go to the trouble of opting out, they still

0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.600
<v Speaker 1>get a phone book delivered to them every year, and

0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:41.080
<v Speaker 1>that ten percent of all Americans still use Yellow Pages

0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.960
<v Speaker 1>If you just zero in on fifty five and older,

0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.200
<v Speaker 1>almost three quarters of them use the Yellow Pages to

0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:51.080
<v Speaker 1>find business like old habits die hard. So like your

0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.840
<v Speaker 1>father in laws, like, he has an incentive to still

0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.120
<v Speaker 1>sure advertising the Yellow Pages, which means there's an incentive

0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.959
<v Speaker 1>for Yellow Pages to still exist as long as people

0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:01.760
<v Speaker 1>use them. You know.

0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm What I'm really mad about is I'm now

0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:06.760
<v Speaker 2>in the age group where they're like, but this is

0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:13.880
<v Speaker 2>what the olds are doing, right, freaking yellow Pages. Come on, nobody.

0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:15.520
<v Speaker 2>I know my age looks in the Yellow Pages, So

0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:16.640
<v Speaker 2>I take issue with that number.

0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:18.040
<v Speaker 1>You're a twenty six percenter.

0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess so. But I have to say, if

0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.400
<v Speaker 2>you're looking for autoglass repair in the Cayuga Falls, Ohio region,

0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 2>and you want to avoid big Auto glass, go with

0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.400
<v Speaker 2>the mom and popper in this case, the pop and

0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.320
<v Speaker 2>go check out Seneco Glass. Tell Rick we sent you.

0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:35.120
<v Speaker 1>Very nice man.

0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:36.560
<v Speaker 2>They do great work.

0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:38.760
<v Speaker 1>I can't think of any better way for short stuff

0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:39.200
<v Speaker 1>to be out.

0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:45.120
<v Speaker 2>That's right, We're out. Stuff you Should Know is a

0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:49.000
<v Speaker 2>production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit

0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.280
<v Speaker 2>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts

0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.240
<v Speaker 1>Or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,