As Mainebiz celebrates its 30th anniversary, we take a look back at a telephone directory whose timing might have been undermined by the advent of Google.
Mainebiz has always sought out the latest business trends. Take for example the July 1995 issue of Mainebiz, which touted “a new phone book, with all the dull stuff removed.”
First, we should explain that phone books were things people used to find phone numbers, what we now call landlines. Phone books were typically quite fat and were used to boost up small children at the dinner table.
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Back in 1995, the phone book in question — the one “with all the dull stuff removed” — was smaller than the standard phone book, just 5-by-8 inches, and featured larger print than the standard phone book.
Yet, at 700 pages, it’s not hard to see why it didn’t survive the advent of Google, which was founded in 1998.
Fun fact
The August 1995 issue of Mainebiz had a real estate ad listing an “excep 3 bdrm contemp” in Portland’s North Deering neighborhood for $103,000. We couldn’t find that same exceptional three-bedroom contemporary, but in February 2024 the median sales price for a home in Cumberland County was $513,250. That’s appreciation.
