The first telephone book was certainly a sign of progress. It was a listing of all the businesses in New Haven, Connecticut that had a telephone in 1878. However, you might be surprised to learn that the first telephone book didn’t actually include any phone numbers. That’s right; the first telephone book consisted of just 50 pages of advertisements! Back in those days, people were generally familiar with the names and addresses of local businesses, but not everybody had a telephone yet.
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