Telephone books are a goldmine of information for historians, and we have the ultimate collection for you. A collection that consists of almost 1000 original telephone books. [UPDATE 16 September 2023: we HAD almost 1000 telephone books, now we have around 100. The list to download has been update to show those that are still available].
Ranging in date from the 1970s and upwards, you can call them old, call them vintage, call them historical, or even retro if you prefer. whatever, we are looking to find good homes for these historical telephone books.
They are primarily Australian … in fact, a large portion are New South Wales, but there are some for other Australian states as well. And there are also a number from various countries around the world … France, Canada, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Ireland, England, Scotland and more.
So what’s the value of an old telephone book? You can find family listed. You may even find yourself listed. Or you can find out who and what businesses and services were in the area at that time. Personally I think it’s sad that telephone books have died a slow death due to modern society not needing them, so having access to those that are available for historical purposes is vitally important.
Are you writing a history of the families who lived in a particular area? Or a local history? Or are you looking for the history of a business or organisation? Did they have an advert in the yellow pages in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s? If so, it’ll be there. What address were they at, at the time? All of that is useful information, and helps when recording the history of a place.
Covering the cities, metro area as well as numerous regional areas in Australia, the telephone books are mostly a combination of White and Yellow Pages, listing both individuals as well as businesses. However there are a few that are simply one or the other, and those have been noted.
Country areas in particular will love these, as they are the perfect way to get a feel for who was in the town at that era.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE LIST
The books are all secondhand, but some are in mint condition, while others have been well-used (the condition has been noted), and there are limited supplies of each title. The price of each book is listed in the file, and postage is freight free within Australia. The list will be updated periodically. (For overseas orders, please contact us for pricing).
TO ORDER
To order these books please phone us on (08) 8263 2055 (M-F 9am-5pm), or email inquiries@gould.com.au as they are NOT listed on our website (www.gould.com.au). Please quote the Box Number code when ordering. You can pay by credit card, direct deposit, Paypal, or post a cheque or money order to us.
