Alberta Phone Books from 1903-2010

[flamingred89]

The 1903 phone book was a trip.

“Hey what’s your phone number?”

“7”

[8 Ball]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

Finally saw the place I lived in as a baby, my parents didn't even have pictures but was able to look up my dad's address and find the place on Google Maps.

Very cool. My baby house is an infill now.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

The 1903 phone book was a trip.

“Hey what’s your phone number?”

“7”

Or the phone number for Dominion Express Co.

[StevenAbootman]

I found my great great grandfather in the 1909 phone book all the way into the 1930s. The address no longer exists, and looks to be part of park now. Is there a way to get any more information on the house that was there?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Look at the last name Peck er:

NSFW!

In 1903, there was a meat market called; "Bangs Bros.".

[Faust]

Airdrie 2000 Oct Airdrie L to Z — Page 42 of the phone book — 3rd column just below “Picone A“

[dubc80]

Ha! I remember looking up girls phone numbers then having to cross reference the address with the potential neighborhood you thought they lived in to figure out which number was the right one since there were so many under the same last name.

Then finally getting the balls to call and hoping the dad, or big brother wouldn't answer and if they did, chicken out and immediately hang up.

BUT... a power move was to *67 before you called to hide your number if they were fancy and rich enough and had a luxury feature called caller id!

Otherwise, they can *69 your ass to figure out your number and call you back.

Good times!

[topfiverecords]

"What two digit number should we set for this new number lookup feature?"

"69 of course"

"Nice!"

[nik-]

When you think about it, it's pretty wild that they put everyone's phone number and address in a book that they'd then give to everyone else.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Misterpants

Wow, that is HAM radio level weird hobby, uploading phone books. I remember the golden age as it dawned on everyone that with smart phones these were completely redundant and when these would get delivered they would go straight from doorstep to the recycling bin.

I worked for Telus Advertising a while back. It took up a whole building filled with people to sell ads, and manufacturer those books. I think it is the AltaLink building. That was good money along with Land Lines for Telus back in the late 90s.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

I worked for Telus Advertising a while back. It took up a whole building filled with people to sell ads, and manufacturer those books. I think it is the AltaLink building. That was good money along with Land Lines for Telus back in the late 90s.

The costs were just ridiculous, I think it was something like $600/month for a 1/4 page ad with no colour.

When I called about 10 years ago to cancel the ad the salesperson was incredulous, "Every business has to be in the book". When I explained that no one uses the book anymore and I can get double the results at half the cost with Google advertising there was silence on the other end of the phone.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by nik-

When you think about it, it's pretty wild that they put everyone's phone number and address in a book that they'd then give to everyone else.

True. But in the same breath the phone book was localized to your area only. So yeah, if I wanted to find someone's address in Grande Prairie or Manning I could, but you didn't have access to someone in Lethbridge or Edmonton. It was relatively limited in who you could find.

One of my favorite pictures is of one of my grandfather's work trucks, business name and phone number painted on the door. His phone number was 59.