TELEPHONE BOOK FIGURES

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29193, 2 May 1960, Page 12

TELEPHONE BOOK FIGURES

Type Considered Satisfactory

The P°st Office considered that the type now used in its telephone directories was the most satisfactory, and no change was pro* posed, said the Chief Postmaster •Mr R. Elcock) commenting on a letter to the editor of “The Press,” which suggested that the figures in the directory were difficult to read.

The letter, signed "Bespectacled,” said: “I wish to make a suggestion to the Chief Portmaster regarding the figures in the telephone directory. The difficulty of seeing the figures, in ray _ opinion, is caused by the similarity of the figures eight, three, six, and nine. Could not this hazard be removed, or partly so, by making the legs on the nines and sixes and the top of the threes straight.” Mr Elcock said the Government Printer had carried out investigations overseas and reported that the type suggested instead of the rounded type at present used did not stand up to the pressure required for stereotyping and, after being used once, showed considerable wear. “A similar type for number* was used before 1952 and, to general, proved said Mr Elcock. •<