The Yellow Pages are sort of like if the internet were a book. Before Google and smartphones, there needed to be a place for folks to look up information about local businesses and people. Phones had to be plugged into the wall at all times, and it was just that – a phone. No games or weather apps. To save a phone number, you had to know it by heart or write it down.
The Yellow Pages was a huge paperback book. It was delivered to your house and listed businesses in your city, organized by category. Businesses could buy space in the Yellow Pages so folks could find them when they needed a service. Let's say you needed someone to come clean your windows. You could look up different window cleaners in the Yellow Pages, give them a call, and book an appointment. There would be many window cleaners to choose from, all listed together under the letter W.
Another book called the White Pages would also be delivered. This directory listed private landline numbers. If you needed to call someone, but you lost the piece of paper they wrote their phone number on, you could look them up in the White Pages. Everyone with a landline was listed in the White Pages. You could let the phone company know if you did not want to be included.
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Image source: "File:Auckland Yellow pages.jpg" by Andrew Sullivan Kabl00ey is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
