The mid 90's seems to be the accepted timeframe when the internet came into public usage. From that point on, provider websites started to rapidly multiply, making it much easier for the hobbyist to have access to these lovely ladies.TER came onto the scene a few years later.

What options were available to veteran ( or should I say "geezer") hobbyists before then ?
There were always the choices of SW's or Nevada brothels, which I availed myself to.

I first started regularly hobbying in L.A. in the mid 80's. Hobbyists could find providers through the many "erotic tabloids" that were found on thousands of newsracks throughout the city. These tabloids were a mixture of legit providers,bait & switch scams & outright ripoffs.
Through this method I found a provider who was an ATF & another one who appeared in Penthouse.
I also had my share of bad experiences.

Are there any other hobyists from other cities who post here who used this or other methods in hobbying's halcyon days & care to share their experiences here ?

I relied primarily on the Boston street scene for many years. It was actually quite good for many years but started to get snuffed-out in the mid 90's.
I had made good use of several strip club oriented sites to find some good clubs while traveling so I thought to myself, why not for finding escorts?

I started up in the SF area in the early 80's.  I had two resources that I used.  The classified ads in the SF Chronicle or the Yellow Pages.  

It is amazing that over the years I had numerous successes and no rip-offs up in the Bay Area.  When I moved down to Southern California, I used newspapers and the Yellow Pages but had my first two rip-offs.  

In some ways, it was kind of exciting not knowing exactly what the lady who showed up would look like.  I was just given hair color and measurements to go by.  

I also stopped in at the Mustang and Kit Kat Ranches a couple of times.  

As far as pricing, back then it was about $150 for each encounter.

In Phila in the 80's, I would get sex tabloids in adult book stores.  Your first objective was to find a brothel, not an indy lady.   You would do your research with the tabloids, maybe starting with the "articles" in the paper, purporting to be reviews, and cross compare with the other papers.  After reading a couple of issues and applying a large dose of skepticism and some common sense, you could figure out which house in which neighborhood might be the safer bet.  

I finally got up enough courage and picked  Bella Femina on Sansom St. to visit.  I picked the place mostly because it had been there for years.  I figured had a clientelle, some measure of political/police protection.  

I worked not too far away, so at lunch time I would take to walking that block of Sansom and case it out.  It was easy to figure out which place Bella Femina was, it had a small discreet sign by the door.  If you weren't looking, you  would probably miss it or have no idea what your were looking at.  

Next, I checked out what kind of traffic the place got by loitering across the street, looking into the window of a used book store.  I would go in the bookstore and look out the window to stretch my observation time.  It did not take too many times of this to
observe 3 or 4 guys entering or leaving.  Other than trying to act non chalant, no one seemed unhappy.

After I felt OK about my "research", I gathered my cash and took that first walk towards that door where they let you in even though you may be a total stranger.

I started hobbying in the early 90's myself. This was in Detroit. Back then, I had nothing to really go on. I had no review sites and no sex magazines to use. Believe it or not, I used to let my fingers do the walking through the good old yellow pages. I wound up with agencies. Back then, the agencies in Detroit were fairly reliable and I had many a hot dalliance with an agency girl. My atf back then was a hot tall blonde who I met through one of the agencies. We worked out a deal where she used to see me on the side for $100 an hour. Can you believe it?.  
God, I miss LEE (her moniker) and her incredible ass.

I rarely got ripped off through the agencies back then.
ah the good old days

First time was in Tampa in the mid 70's.  Went to a "know bar" and made my choice.  She had a hotel room a mile away (without fresh sheets  but when you are in your 20's you don't notice these things) and a f*ck and a suck was less than $.  Obviously no GFE.

I don't quite qualify for, as you call it, "geezer" status. But I started to dabble in the hobby in the late 80's/early 90's.

My main source was the yellow pages. Agencies ran ads under the Massage section, they'd send a girl over, you both did the "are you a cop?" dance, got the money out of the way and had a roll in the hay. Other than screening, pictures posted on the web, and review boards, it wasn't a whole lot different than  it is today.

Bar girls in Vegas was the other lifeblood of hobbying back then too.

When I started in the hobby I used the yellow pages.  It was sometimes fairly reliable back in the 80's.  Girls were not always as described but rarely was I completly disappointed.  Also there was a number of massage parlors (saunas, etc.) where one could get service.  

Now I do business entirely on with girls on the internet.  With the internet girls post pictures and accurate discriptions.  Also reveiws have helped in knowing what I can expect from a provider.
One thing I do miss is the massage parlor (or storefront brothels), where a guy could drop in without an appointment for an enjoyable break.  Minneapolis had one on the best in the "Relax-A-Lounge".  
I used to love taking lunch breaks there.

As a geezer, I hardly can remember, but in New York City, I used the Yellow Pages as well as the Village Voice.

Can a provider post her experiences from the 'old days' on your thread?

In boston it was the combat zone for $20 blow jobs by street walkers. When that went away it was the yellow pages and the back of Boston Magazine (many towns have there own mag). Then the internet.