How My Mom Got Me a set of Encyclopedias at the Supermarket

[rightazrain]

OMG. Graduated HS 1962. Relate to everything! Love ya, Sam.

[vladimir998]

The one big set of books I have always wanted - and will never have the money or shelf space for - is the Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-English-Dictionary-Vols-1-20/dp/0198611862?crid=G5KMJKW5O0E8&keywords=oxford+english+dictionary+set&qid=1540685980&s=Books&sprefix=oxford+e%2Cstripbooks%2C216&sr=1-1&ref=sr_1_1

[Bubba_Leroy]

In the 1960s, my parents bought us a set of World Book encyclopedias from a traveling salesman on a monthly installment plan. My mother still had them when she died in 2012.

I have them in the back of a closet. I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out. My kids will have to throw them out when I die.

[Mr. Jeeves]

All of us who had exposure to these types of encyclopedias and pre-global warming National Geographic were fortunate - look at the poor Millennials today who have a million different ways to acquire the same knowledge and zero inclination to do so.

There is something about a single form of available knowledge that focuses the young mind enough to actually take advantage of it. When it is available everywhere (even in Left-edited form) one takes in none of it.

[bonfire]

Takes me back..... My mother shopped at Finast as well. We had a set of encyclopedias from my grandmother who simply passed them on to us. She had bought them for her own children so they were a bit out of date but came in handy.
Thanks for your sweet memory.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Encyclopedias were too heavy but my mom got me about 70 Golden Guides.

I loved those little books.

[SamAdams76]

Someday, I will tell the story here of my experience with the Columbia House Record Club!

Remember those magazine offers? "8 cassettes for a Penny!"

So like a fool, I taped the penny to the card and sent it in. Sure, I got my cassettes of Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, etc. But then I started getting cassettes sent to me every month for about $20 (Columbia House's "regular price")! They would send you a letter with the "pick of the month" and unless you notified them by mail within something like three days, the tape came with the bill and good luck trying to send it back before the next bill came with the late charges.

So I became one of millions of no-income kids owing Columbia House big bucks for unwanted Billy Joel and Neil Diamond tapes. That's a full story I'll tell later.

[bigbob]

My folks bought the World Book encyclopedia in 1960 when I was 9 and my sister was zero. The were sold door-to-door and I think the salesman might have been my elementary school principal, maybeas a summer job. Every teacher knew what the WB had to say about every topic assigned for reports however - no plagarizing! So I developed the ability to paraphrase, which was actually a good skill to have.

[cherry]

I hope somebody is keeping hard copies of books.....

the left will destroy our history...

[aspasia]

Haha, I scored my two-volume set for a penny, from The Conservative Book Club (they made you promise to buy more books). It came with magnifying glass.

[truthkeeper]

Yep, my mother got us the same set in the same way. She was a sucker for those grocery store promotions. My brother and I not only read the heck out of them but used them as a schoolwork resource.

After they gathered dust in my parents' bookcase for a couple of decades they were donated to Goodwill.

Thanks for the great story and memory...you write very well.

"Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's." Lol

[V K Lee]

Still have a set of F/W (purchased in the 70’s. The days of the special purchase every week at your local food store has vanished with the times. During that time, an entire set of dishes (most now broken and gone), F/W (complete set), Woman’s Day Cooking hardback books (NOT the complete set) and ? serving set of silverware were purchased. Still have the F/W and Womans Day books, and still refer to them on occasion.

[aspasia]

In an authoritarian society, memory is a premium.

I have the books they would put to Fahrenheit 451. If I were to memorize one, it might be the OED : )

[BillyBonebrake]

We’re obviously of similar age from the same neck of the woods. My mom helped me with getting started with fishing .. with tackle bought with S&H green stamps.

[faithhopecharity]

Yes. The free or nearly- free encyclopedias and China for dining and such were great promotions for the grocers. Just like the five cent ice cream cones were for the drug stores. And the green or blue chip or orange stamps were for gas stations. People FREQUENTLY chose to patronize those merchants just for the little “freebies”

[truthkeeper]

Along that same line, remember the dish towel that used to come inside specially boxed marked boxes of detergent? And how about Blue Chip Stamps and S&H Green Stamps, which we had in California?

Our family didn't have much money, so we used to joke that our home was furnished in "Early Blue Chip Stamps."

Oh, the memories. I sure miss those days.

[goodnesswins]

Lucky you...I DID get taken to the library...but with no guidance for what to read..and I was a voracious reader

[fhayek]

I agree. Not to sound paranoid, but digitizing all books could definitely lead to shenanigans by people in power. I am comfortable with good old-fashion books.

[Big Red Badger]

Thet Were Green,,,
Probably look like oatmeal now.

[SamAdams76]

I have this set of books (from the late 1800s) that I found in an old bookstore some years ago. It was obviously before they put the "en" in encyclopedia.

It's amusing to browse through them and see how much the world has changed.