In fact, City Directories were much more comprehensive, from the end of the 18th century. City Directories can contain people's exact home addresses, their occu

In fact, City Directories were much more comprehensive, from the end of the 18th century. City Directories can contain people's exact home addresses, their occupations, and places of employment. The directories were a combined white pages-yellow pages even before the phone company got in on it. Traditionally, in most small towns, privacy has meant something entirely different, because all the residents of a town knew everybody else's business, whether it was from open sharing, gossip, or low-tech spying. People in a small town do not have freedom of movement or freedom of anonymity. There is no crowd to blend into.