Directories By The Million

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

Directories By The Million

THE London telephone directory is one of the largest printing jobs in the world. It is printed 64 pages at a time on large and fast-running rotary machines, each of which folds and delivers 16,000 sections of 64 printed pages an hour. A single issue requires 20.000 miles of paper and weighs 1700 tons; 12,000 paces of standing type have to be stored from issue to issue. The directory is published, in two volumes (A —K. and Jj-—'A). each of which is issued twice a year. Approximately 900.000 copies of each issue are distributed to subscribers. Telephone directories arc of two kinds alphabetical and classified. The former contain the lists of subscribers in alphabetical order, whereas the latter contain the names of business subscribers arranged under their respective trades and professions. In all 31 alphabetical directories and 18 classified directories are i -sued lor the United Kingdom. The smallest is the Isle of Man directory with only 2500 subscribers; the largest is the London directory containing some r>:i2.500 entries. The directories are printed by H.M. Stationery Office at Harrow and are published twice a year. The growth of the work of printing lias been phenomenal. In 1921 approximately 1,700,000 directories were issued weighing about 1000 tons. In 1038 the number totalled upwards of 10.500.000 and the weight had increased to 10,Hon tons. Tlie work of printing \« continuous

throughout the year and the dates of issue of the various directories have been so arranged as to spread the work evenly over the year. Examination of the classified directory reveals some curious and unusual callings. Among the 3200 different classifications in the London directory may be cited the following:,—Amiatt'o manufacturers, average adjusters, ball .and pebble mills, codes, dogs' hairdressers, glass benders, glass graduators, safe removers, speech writers, toothpick makers and trichologists.