CaliforniaABAA
MARCH 1899 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS OF THE PACIFIC STATES TELEPHONE COMPANIES
1899WRCAM56200San Francisco: Pacific States Telephone Companies 1899. 4vi2vii-viii4942pp. Original printed buckram boards. Small hole drilled through front and rear boards for hanging. Boards soiled and edge worn remains of adhesive to rear pastedown bookplate affixed to rear pastedown. Minor soiling and tanning to text small tear in upper part of pp. 493-94 affecting a few letters of text. Very good overall. Scarce telephone directory for California Oregon Washington and northern Idaho advertising listings for all 47874 subscribers often including addresses. The front pastedown provides instructions for how to use the telephone and make calls along with advice on telephone etiquette and how to contact non-subscribers. Although the telephone had been around for over twenty years at this point people apparently still benefited from the advice to "speak in a moderate tone and directly into the transmitter with the lips as close as possible to the mouthpiece." Likewise callers are advised to be clear about who they are and whom they are calling: "Much friction and annoyance will be avoided if this simple plan is carried out." <br> <br> After a few pages with information on long distance and line rates there is a "Supplemental List" for San Francisco dated April 1 1899 and printed on pink paper. Between pp.vi-vii of this supplement facing a page titled "Chinese Exchange" is a yellow leaf printed in Chinese on one side. The final leaf and rear pastedown have additional information on features available to subscribers and printed in black and red on the rear board is a map of the coverage area highlighting the "21000 miles of copper wire" running up and down the west coast. <br> <br> The directory begins with San Francisco listings organized alphabetically by subscriber and then covers the rest of California - Acampo to Zaca - alphabetically by city. Next are Oregon listings printed on pink paper and arranged alphabetically by city. Washington follows again arranged alphabetically by city; and then the final two pages include listings for sixteen towns in north Idaho. <br> <br> The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in March 1876 created a new and swiftly-developing commercial market for rapid communication. Less than a year later the first newspaper report was delivered over the phone. The invention of the microphone in 1877 paired nicely with the new telephone technology and the Bell Telephone Company was born in July of that year. The first telephone directory in the U.S. was issued in New Haven Connecticut seven month later in February 1878 and the second directory in the U.S. was issued in San Francisco in June 1878. <br> <br> OCLC lists five copies of this March 1899 issue: Yale damaged Sacramento Public Library L.A. County Natural History Museum and the Nevada State Library. OCLC 55676511 19667877 29785821. Pacific States Telephone Companies hardcover books
William Reese Company · États-Unis1 850,00 $US≈ 1 565,29 €
