Did you grow up with a set of Encyclopedias in your house?

[aTOMiC]

Nowdays with the internet and computer based Encyclopedias people probably tend to forgo the hassle of buying a book based set of Encyclopedias but when I was a kid that was the only option.
My family had a full set of World Book that included a year book that featured information about events that happened only on one particular year. I believe the set of books we had were published in 1966. I believe we had year books from 1967 to 1972.
As a kid I LOVED flipping through the Encyclopedias. My favorite books were A for Animals and Aircraft, D for Dinosaurs and S for Ships and Space but I liked to just sit and read each volume, especially the yearbooks.

Since having the actual books seems like a waste of space I'm guessing there aren't many still around but for some reason I'd like to have another look at those books some 20 something years later.

[dlbpharmd]

We had a full set of World Book also, but I can't remember the year we had. It must've been late '60s or maybe 'early '70s though. I learned about the planets and the Sun from those books. Good times.

[deer of the dawn]

We had Brittanica, I think. I read them for hours. As a result, I am a walking compendium of useless trivia.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I had a cheaper less fancy version of encyclopedias.

The Encyclopedia Britannica would have:
Arch Duke Ferdinand (December 18, 1863 – June 28, 1914)
with a full glossy picture

Mine had:
Arch Duke Ferdinand 1863-1914-ish
with a stick figure that had X's for his eyes

[Menolly]

My family had a full set of World Book that included a year book that featured information about events that happened only on one particular year. I believe the set of books we had were published in 1966. I believe we had year books from 1967 to 1972.

*ayeup*

My folks bought their World Book set the year they married, 1956. We had year books from 1957 until 1988, the one that came out after my father passed and I canceled the subscription as executor. I still have all of those in storage somewhere, along with daddy's collection of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and National Geographic.

[Damelon]

We had a full set of the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1968. I could read it for hours.

[Avatar]

Can't remember the publishers, but had a full set of encyclopedia's. Also had a (nearly complete) set of History of the 20th Century. Nearly complete because the century wasn't complete then.

Useless trivia? Better believe it.

--A

[onewyteduck]

I had a "Child's" encylcolpedia, don't remember the name or the publisher. My favorite parts to read were the dinosaurs, various animals, and mythology. It had loads of coloured illustrations! I also liked reading about George Washington Carver....go figure!

We now have a set of Encyclopedia Britannica, that was bought for my husband when he was in 5th or 6th. We've talked about getting rid of them.....they take up alot of space and collect alot a dust. I don't want to though.....I think they would be neat to show to Peyton when she's a little older. Show how we learned things in "the olden days"! And, they are just flat out damned impressive looking.

[Menolly]

I had a "Child's" encylcolpedia, don't remember the name or the publisher. My favorite parts to read were the dinosaurs, various animals, and mythology. It had loads of coloured illustrations! I also liked reading about George Washington Carver....go figure!

Was it The New Book of Knowledge? That was the set I had as a kid. White with gold embossing. I loved that a heck of a lot more than my parents World Book set.

[Mortice Root]

No encylopedias in the house. I do recall spending lots of time in the libraries leafing through World Book, though.

We did have a couple of series of Time-Life books. I think one was a biology series - I remember a volume on primates, and one on reptiles. Also a set of Time-Life books on the Earth, I think - volumes on the Solar System, Volcanoes, Oceans, Earthquakes etc... Those were cool.

[Menolly]

Oh yes, the Time-Life series were awesome!

Life magazine had some amazing photographers on staff, and that translated into those books really well.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

We had the complete Encyclopaedia Brittanica as well, along with a Brittanica two-volume unabridged dictionary with full etymologies and seven language phrasings. We also had a couple of the annuals, but sporadic.

I think I used the dictionary more often than the Encyclopedia set, but all were right handy at paper and/or book report time.

I still remember the smell of the pages...

dw

[AjK]

In the late 60's my mother bought a full set of encyclopedias from an old-school door-to-door salesman (and no, I don't believe he carried an entire set around with him.) I remember it very clearly because I had just gotten home from school (1st or 2nd grade), thrown off my Catholic elementary school uniform and was tearing around the house in my underwear (don't ask.) When he came to the door my mom shoved me into a small side room where I had to stay for his entire eternity of a sales pitch. Despite that I still liked the books!

[danlo]

Brittanica--only lightweights who liked to look at pictures had World Book!

[aTOMiC]

Brittanica--only lightweights who liked to look at pictures had World Book!

I noticed that too. I grew up with World Book but when I got to school our library had Brittanica. I was like "What, no pictures?" World Book had a full two page full color painting of dozens of different kinds of dinosaurs and their names. It was awesome. Brittanica was like "Here is a list of the dinosaurs. If you want to see what they look like then you are a silly head and need to get back to work at the factory sweat shop and stop day dreaming, punk!"

[danlo]

I, snobbishly of course, acknowledge Brittanica for helping me to achieve a 780 on my verbal SAT (you don't want to know what the math was...[520] )

[aTOMiC]

You KNOW your SAT scores? I don't have a freaking clue. Something tells me that if I requested my transcripts the scores would be MUCH lower than I seem to remember. Better to be happy in ignorance.

[AjK]

I, snobbishly of course, acknowledge Brittanica for helping me to achieve a 780 on my verbal SAT

That is awesome! My only claim to fame regarding the old SATs is that I knew someone who aced them. He received the standard notice saying that he scored a 1590. He immediately wrote back telling them which one they thought he missed and why there were actually two correct answers to that question. He was then given a 1600.

[Cagliostro]

Edit: Y'know, after the I've seen people beat to death thread, I don't think my prior post is funny anymore. Self-editing.

[danlo]

I feel that way about my IQ test-I think they adminstered it when I was in fifth grade--I have no idea what it was-I'd hate to think I was really that dumb.

I know my SAT scores from '74 because you had to have a combined 1300 just to be considered for one college I was appyling to. I eventually spent 3 semesters at it, but hated every minute of it.