# 1960s phone directory questions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733 "2017-06-24T06:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733/21 "2017-06-25T02:42:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Depends on the state. NY first required photos in 1984. For all licenses yes, but if you had a Taxi (“Hack”) License, there was License photos as early as the 1910s. My grandfather had a Hack License in 1951 here in NYC, and later on he had what was called a “Chauffer License” (which became the Class 4 or Class E license later - not a CDL) and all his licenses going back to at least 1966 had photos. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733/22 "2017-06-26T02:19:00Z")
This doesn’t directly answer your questions, but try posting a good still from the movie on Facebook, see if you can find someone who recognizes her. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733/23 "2017-06-26T03:04:37Z")
As Hilarity N. Suze and RivkahChaya noted, you had to pay a charge to have an unlisted phone number. Some people avoided the charge by listing their phone number under a fake name. So Ruth Wonderly, for example, would get a phone for her house but she’d tell the phone company, _“I’m paying the bills but the phone is really for my sister who lives with me. Her name is Brigid O’Shaughnessy so list the number under her name.”_ That way anybody trying to look up Ruth’s phone number in the W’s wouldn’t be able to find it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733/24 "2017-06-26T12:32:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As Hilarity N. Suze and RivkahChaya noted, you had to pay a charge to have an unlisted phone number. Some people avoided the charge by listing their phone number under a fake name. So Ruth Wonderly, for example, would get a phone for her house but she’d tell the phone company, _“I’m paying the bills but the phone is really for my sister who lives with me. Her name is Brigid O’Shaughnessy so list the number under her name.”_ That way anybody trying to look up Ruth’s phone number in the W’s wouldn’t be able to find it. Years ago, there was one person listed locally as Rufus T. Firefly. I’m not sure if that cut down on call or increased them. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733/25 "2017-06-26T15:08:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Beginning in the late 1980s, you could get two different numbers for the same phone line-- you didn’t need two physical lines coming into the house-- and the phone ring sounded different depending on which number someone dialed. I had two numbers, one for voice, and one for TTY. Since it was one line, not two, if someone answered one ring, the line was occupied, and you couldn’t call through on the other number. I knew people who had this set-up for their kids. The fee was only about a dollar a month. That was caled “distinctive ring.” It was available in my area thru both AT&T and Charter Cable, but was discontinued by both a few months ago. It caused a major disruption in my phone connections and an increased cost when I had to move to 2 separate lines. TPC is always adding new features that I don’t want, but it’s a mystery to me why they would discontinue distinctive ring. It was ideal for me. I don’t have that many calls, so one physical line was enough. It was nice to know when a call was for business or otherwise, and only one phone, answering machine or voicemail was necessary to cover 2 lines. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733/26 "2017-06-26T15:08:31Z")
I have scans of phone directories from the 50’s and 60’s of both sets of grand parents and my parents. Besides both names listed with each entry, they also listed their occupations but not the street addresses. One for my parents even lists my father as a clerk at Safeway. I also found out my dad’s father changed jobs quite often, within a 10 year period he is shown as a car salesman, bookkeeper and insurance salesman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-phone-directory-questions/789733.md?page=1)