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When I was a kid, there were traveling salesmen who went from house to house selling encyclopedias. I am sure that many of those offers were for vastly overpriced editions that involved long-term payment options that the buyer would soon regret. But back in the fifties, America wanted to believe that the knowledge contained in an encyclopedia would lift every child into academic and societal success. I saw commentary on the internet today that said that Elon Musk read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica when he was nine years old. My reaction to that was puzzled. Didn't everyone read an encyclopedia as soon as they could read? My encyclopedia was the World Book Encyclopedia, probably sold by a traveling salesman. I read every volume of those books repeatedly because there was nothing else in the house to read and I wanted to figure out what life was all about.
You know what else I studied? The dictionary. We had an ancient leather-bound dictionary that was at least twelve inches thick. It had tiny ornate drawings for each entry, and I was mesmerized by the sheer amount of knowledge that was displayed.
Have I ever mentioned that I am a killer Scrabble player? I have forgotten far too many of the bittersweet memories of my childhood but I remember most of those obscure words that begin with Y or Q.
I regret that when my wife and I had children, we forgot to buy an encyclopedia.
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Pessimist, you are ok!
(You already seemed ok (you are even on the List although that isn’t a big deal, since even BDB is on there and he got banned) but the more you tell us about yourself the more ok you seem.)
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In 1965 I sold Encyclopedia Americana door to door. Don't remember what it cost, but as I recollect there was something like 25 volumes: And, there was an annual update that was significant.
World book was physically smaller but I don't know doodly sqat about it.
I grew up with Compton's . Also had yearbooks.
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My grandparents had the World Book Encyclopedias and I enjoyed them.
Britannica was marketing to the military in the early 90s. A young couple I knew was expecting their first child and they bought a complete set, which included not only the encyclopedias, but ~50 volumes of Great Books. The books had collected works of Aristotle, Homer, Galileo, Darwin, Freud, and so on.
This young couple, who were anxious to provide all the advantages to their impending heir, promptly sold all the Great Books, seeing no value in those writings at all. One of my co-workers snatched up the whole lot for $75. I was envious, and when he later needed money for a hot date, I became the new owner of the Great Books.
I am embarrassed to say I have not read a one of them. There was a time when I would have dug into them, but I now have other things that demand my attention. Most of the volumes are in their original plastic wrap.
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We had a set of the World Books. I'd read through them by the time I left elementary school.
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Complete sets are still available, on ebay etc. Probably even amazon. They may not be perfectly up-to-date, but Jeff Bezos et al can't change what's in them.
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