Small change for new phone book
IT is the age old question, does size matter?
And the jury has reached its verdict - it's a yes.
In a few weeks Coast residents will receive the new-look Sunshine Coast White Pages and Yellow Pages which is 15% smaller in height and width.
But this is not the first change the handy contact book, which in the early days was known as the North Coast and Esk Districts phonebook, has had since its inception over 60 years ago.
In 1952, an advertisement for Thomas Brown and Sons Ltd - Merchants, Manufacturers and Distillers appeared on the cover and the book consisted of 85 pages of residential listings and 17 advertising pages, which were known as the Pink Pages.
Fast-forward to the 2011-12 book and there are 1174 pages of ads and 469 pages of residential listings.
Over the years, the sorts of listings have also changed dramatically. Furriers and tanners and artificial eye manufacturers were listed in the 1952 Sunshine Coast phone directory, only to be taken out a few years later.
In 1978, today's lingerie stores were advertised under foundation garments, while the podiatrists were known as chiropodists back then.
Since 1992, the number of listings in the book under retirement villages has more than doubled from 26 to 65, reflecting the aging population.
The new-look Sunshine Coast White Pages and Yellow Pages is just the next step in the evolution of the book.
