If you’re not old enough to remember AOL, burning your own mix CDs, or scrambled cable TV, strap in — because you’re not gonna believe this. There used to be a giant book with everyone’s phone number in it!
It was a 10-pound tome, cover-to-cover of 6-point font, alphabetically listing every single person’s name, address, and landline phone number within entire metropolises. And it was thousands of pages long. We called it “the White Pages.” Not only that, but there was another one with yellow pages that we called — are you ready for this? — “the Yellow Pages.” That one housed every single business, from dry cleaners to pizza joints to video stores (wait ’til I tell you about video stores!).
Basically, sans the internet, these physical archives were the single-most reliable reference to find someone or something — at least, within a day’s drive. And while it may sound ludicrous now, it was actually very useful, not to mention efficient. Sure, you can Google any topic under the sun nowadays. But you’ll be presented with millions of results, all of varying quality and questionable authority.
“The Yellow Pages” was a trusted, no-questions-asked resource of what’s available and where to get it. And now, in the face of an AI uprising, two quixotic, self-proclaimed “gear fanatics” are resurrecting the historic volume and catering it to American-made gear.
It’s called “Crafted With Pride.” And I received a copy of the inaugural edition at my doorstep — just like the old days!
‘Crafted With Pride’: Gear Yellow Pages
Not quite the titanic compendium of its now-extinct predecessor, “Crafted With Pride” focuses solely on made-in-USA gear you can wear on your body. It comprises shoes, gloves, hats, packs, jackets, swimwear, blankets, and more. And while it omits many hard goods categories like sleeping bags, tents, and knives — for the sake of the authors’ sanity — future editions may offer a more comprehensive selection of outdoor gear.
“We’re apparel people first and foremost,” co-author Willy DeConto told me. Both he and fellow author, Alex Goulet, share a history in the vintage industry. “But even as consumers, we would both love to have access to a list that hit those other categories. How we might want to branch into this in the future is all TBD. Our ‘tip line’ for great recommendations in any genre is always open!”
The East Coast duo teamed up 5 years ago to begin wrangling all the info — addresses, phone numbers, websites, and background on brands — that would become edition one of “Crafted With Pride.”
“This project originally started from an archival perspective. We wanted to tell the stories of all the interesting heritage brands in our area that were still manufacturing in a manner mostly unchanged from the golden era of apparel manufacturing in the 20th century,” DeConto said.
Why go through all the trouble to make a book? Why not Google?
“Believe it or not, this book took years of research, much of which did not involve a search engine. So much in the guide has come through word of mouth — stories we’d hear working in the vintage clothing business over the years, seeing an intriguing tag sewn into a sweatshirt at the thrift store, consulting out-of-print trade publications or magazines, eBay, things like that,” DeConto said.
“These are companies with no marketing departments, no SEO optimization specialists, just sole proprietors and small outfits focused entirely on making honest, top-quality gear for their loyal customer base.”
Plus, he noted that he and Goulet took the time to personally vet each manufacturer to make sure a “Made in USA” claim was more than a Google-friendly keyword, but that it was a very real commitment to American manufacturing.
‘Crafted With Pride’: Limited-Edition Guide to USA-Made Gear
