Posted on 10/27/2018 4:35:04 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Yep - I still remember discovering that the Eskimos used a knife called an ulu to cut blocks of snow-ice to build igloos...when I was 10 or so, everything seemed so interesting...it’s when I became a voracious reader.
Good story, great words, that took my hand back to that time. I’m sitting in front of them, in the foyer on the hard floor. Prominently displayed, my parents were proud of them. They were pretty, white with gold inlay. The pages seem fragile, you had to be careful to keep them pretty. They deserved a certain amount of respect somehow.
I need to get started on the report for school. Why do I always wait to the last minute.
Me too. Learned a lot.
You have written my story! I sat at the end of our apartment’s hallway and poured over those volumes with pure love! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
I always wanted the unabridged OED but could never justify the price. For years I did subscribe to the online version and would often, “log on” to settle a dispute to the surprise of many; “You subscribe to a dictionary?!”
I love the feel of a book in my hands! I also bought Compton’s by Britannica for my kids which have never been touched. Maybe someday, after the big EMP destroys their phones.
I had a set as well. I used to just like to grab one at random and look through it. I also asked for, and received, the complete works of William Shakespeare when I was in the 6th grade.
Yeah, I a nerdy kid.
And toasters from the banks!
You grew up Rich! We had empty jelly jars.
Ha! Yes toasters
Those were the days. Thanks, SamAdams!
I bought a set myself back in the day (little by little).
I donated them to Goodwill about 10-12 years ago.
#5 5 in my education-obsessed family, just about in your timeframe, Sam. So already 3 forms of encyclopedias at home. Only one more, the very current, encyclopedic “Book of Knowledge” to augment in my era. But always so much good to read at home—both nonfiction and fiction. It meant the world to this kid back in the 70s.
My family somehow got World Book encyclopedia cheap. It was very useful. But the real way I learned to read was via DC comic books and a few others. DC was Superman and Batman and some little bitty spinoffs like Super Boy. I had an old large wicker basket full of them. This was before Marvel comics which were and are crap in my book.
For your next essay you might consider the virtues of the Montgomery Ward’s or Sears catalogues! Several come to mind from my misspent youth!
So true. Whether our parents bought the encyclopedias outright or just took advantage of a store promotion (as mine did), they were investing in us.
I don't know what happened to our family's original set of encyclopedias that my mother found at the supermarket each week. But, years later, as young adults, my sibling and I bought our parents an entirely new set as a gift. Our parents were thrilled and referred to those books often.
As a parent, I've bought (and picked up free) many reference books for my own children. I have no grandchildren yet, but hope the tradition continues for many generations to come.
As the OP, my mom bought our set of F&W in around 1952, one volume at a time and they were well known before that.
Think about that catch phrase, it's only really funny if one one already knows about the encyclopedia with the funny name.
I remember my Dad giving Mom $50/week to get groceries and incidentals for our family of five - and she managed to save some "pin money" from that...these days one can spend more than that on items that will fit in a small Walmart plastic bag...
We had World Book, but the odd F&W volumes showed up here and there around the school classrooms, so I know there donations of that kind, just not a full set. And of course, there was a running gag, probably on “Laugh In”, where someone would say, “look *that* up in your Funk and Wagnall’s”. This whole thing brings back a memory fragment — Martin Mull, during his musical career, was talking about finding what he thought was a hot novel, “Girl to Grab”, but it turned out to be volume 9 of the Encyclopedia Brittanica. No idea which song that’s from. :^)
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