Let your Golden Pages do the talking

A SCHOLAR is looking for an accurate picture of late 20th-century Ireland. So does he comb through the yellowed pages and faded ink of an old manuscript for an authoritative history?

Or does he simply look at another form of yellow pages, the telephone directory?

Well, if Golden Pages Ltd has any say, it will definitely be the latter.

As the 35th edition of the popular directory is being distributed nationwide, the company behind the Golden Pages is making a firm case for its addition to the canon of great historical works.

It “arguably charts the social and commercial history of Ireland more authoritatively than any other document in the National Museum,” said Golden Pages marketing director Tim Wynne yesterday.

“A quick look at the listings in the Golden Pages over the past 35 years mirrors the economic metamorphosis of Ireland that has taken place. Classifications of yesteryear include corset-manufacturers, aerosol manufacturing, bible publishing, fur farming, orphanages and snuff manufacturing.

“They have been replaced by new industries, including balloon flights, laser eye surgery, feng shui consultancies, divorce services, toll roads and immigration consultants.”

Changing times, indeed. But can that typically battered directory, that always seems to go missing when you need it most, really lay claim to being of historical value?

Yes, says Eunan O’Halpin, a professor of modern history at Trinity College Dublin.

“Directories are enormously useful to historians for all sorts of reasons.

“During the recent commemorations of Ulysses, for example, one of the items most sought-after by Joyce enthusiasts was the Thoms street directory of 1904.”

So, then, history buffs would do well to guard their new edition of the Golden Pages, which will shortly be delivered to every home and office in the country.

In total, some 3.5 million Golden Pages directories and Eircom phone books will be delivered nationwide by the end of November. The new edition with more than 130,000 business listings will generate about 86 million consultations in 12 months. Not bad for a product first produced in 1969 by a staff of 40.