Reverse White Page directories were usually delivered once a year from your local phone service company. According to wikipedia, the first white page directory was published in 1878. The name and address listings were fairly complete only because the option to have an unlisted number didn’t come into play until much later.
Whitepage directories usually refer to residential listings with listing sorted in alphabetical order, while yellowpage directories cover business listed by name and/or business type. These phone number resources are published by the phone company servicing the subscribers local area.