The final ever British Telecom phone book came through my door earlier, an edition covering 'Clyde Coast'.
The following message is written inside, accompanying a two page potted history of the phone book dating back to the first ever edition published in London in 1880:
We've been delivering The Phone Book to you from 1880 to 2024.
We have loved being your local directory online and print, thank you for you support.
We will no longer print and deliver The Phone Book after March 2024.
The online service will also finish on 31.03.2024 Until then please keep visiting www.thephonebook.bt.com
It's not easy to see why the publication of the phone book services is ending, in an era of increasing mobile phones and tablets use, and with ever fewer domestic land lines. The Clyde Coast edition is just 122 pages in length, half of which comprises of what would have been the old 'yellow pages', with trade adverts, and the rest with domestic listings. Nevertheless, a major part of history is now happening with its demise, with a once essential publication now becoming a relic. There was a time when I could proudly say my family were the only Patons in the Northern Irish phone book, as a badge of honour!
Don't forget that historic BT phone books for Scotland and the UK (including pre-Partition Ireland, and post-Partition Nothern Ireland) can be found on Ancestry within its British Phone Books, 1880-1984 collection at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1025/. It's actually a very difficult set to use, as it returns far too many results in a search (you are much better to browse the volumes), but it can help you to locate individuals between census years and after 1921.
This final edition states on the cover "Final Edition - Hold on to it forever" - sad hoarder that I am, I might just do so!
For more on the story visit https://www.printmonthly.co.uk/News/Industry/11130/bt-to-cease-production-of-uk-font-colorwhitefont
RIP the Phone Book.
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
I don't know if this was done in the UK but, in the US, kids who were too big for a high-chair but still couldn't see over the dining table would sit on a phone book for extra height. This one wouldn't do much good. LOL!
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