We were too poor to have a set in the house and I envied my chums that had them.

So when my children were young, I bought a set. They were rarely used but they were there.

Some that were so out of date by the time I got to high school they were useless. Beautiful leather bindings though-lol. That salesman saw my parents coming.

World Brittanica. Leather bound. A complete set my parents bought from a traveling salesman probably in the late 60’s. I LOVED getting lost in them reading just about anything!! Used them for MANY school reports and papers! I especially loved when there was a picture somewhere too. They were in a book case two tiered that was sold with them. This was a huge deal for us living in the country. We didn’t have a library for miles. Actually a lady came to our house maybe once a month with a traveling library in her car. I would jump in he back seat when I was little and the kids books were in the rear window. Loved that life!!!!

We couldn't afford them, but I would sit for hours at the library reading theirs. I still do quite often, I'm not really very old but I tend 2 b old school on a lot of things. One of them being I'm terrible with computers! Lol, in fact I only found this site by accident

We had a set of Grolier Encyclopedias along with the annuals that came every year. I loved those things. Now I'm a librarian and I teach people how to find reliable information online.

We did and I wish I still had them.

I grew up in the 70's...which was an awesome time to be a kid in southern California. Anyway...my parents bought the whole set of Funk & Wagnall's encyclopedia set. Even came with this huge atlas.
Oh man...I read those books cover to cover! I was voracious. So much cool info! The glossy pages...the pictures...I was in heaven.
A few years later, my dad bought me the entire set of Funk & Wagnall's wildlife encyclopedias and I read all those too. Cover to cover. Multiple times. I can tell you things, man...lots and lots of things....

We had a set. I remember my dad (who did the grocery shopping) would pick up a volume every week at the supermarket, they sold them one at a time in a series until you collected a whole set.

We had a really old set, from the 30s. I used to like to look up stuff and see how much had changed from what was known then, to the 70s. There was a lot. Especially since it was pre-WWII.

Mom bought a set of Encyclopedia Americana for my sixth birthday -- 15 November 1946. It was a set of 22 volumes and two yearbooks. I had read them all by my seventh birthday. Now, I don't mean I read every article, but I did read most of them. Some just didn't interest me. I loved those books. Of course, aside from school, most of the winter where we lived was mainly comprised of chores on the farm and inside time. We had a radio and I listened to the serials, but most of my inside time was spent in those beautiful encyclopedias.

We had a huge set. Which was a good thing, because while most people my age grew up with an internet connection, I didn't until I bought my first smartphone at 19.

As a child, we had Britannica... As well as several 'Time' series..one was earth science and biology, another was on space, rockets and related subjects, then there was a set on what today we call DIY for the home... As soon as i could comprehend what i was reading, around age 6 or 7, I was fascinated by the variety of information.. I carefully read each and every book, then rereading them over and over for several years. This began what i call my love for "useless informatipn", which over the last 35 or so years, has proven to be quite useful!

One of my favorite things to do with my father was to read them. We got them with deals at the grocery store ? My favorite was the anatomy pages with the picture lay overs.

Loved them. Opening one up and learning something new every time. Doesn't get any better than that.

I did, and they were instrumental in my education in my grade-school years.

Wow! This topic hit a button in the 'way back' machine. I spent an inordinate amount of time sprawled out on the livingroom floor perusing various volumes of the Encyclopedia Britanica. Good times! Solitary, but good. Nothing like random information to make a body feel good!

We had two sets. One from the 60s and one from the 80s that also published yearly updates. Sometimes I'd just sit and read whatever caught my eye. Early version of falling down a Wikipedia hole! ?

Yup we had a set. But to use the Britannica I went to the public library.

If you had a set of those - you were rich!

We had a set. We used them frequently.

Used to. Grew up with them, great investment for children. Never a boring moment.

Encyclopedia Britannica and there was a science encyclopedia for children that was sold at the grocery store. I'd pester my mom wanting to know when the next came out. Whenever we went to the store, I'd rush to the display looking for the latest issue.

I used to get very frustrated with encyclopedias. They were cumbersome, expensive--and they were outdated every year.

Oh, wow, what memories. I adored reading them. We also had a set of How Things Work!

What were those periodical indexes at the libraries called?

Those things in the big blue binders?

Also microfiche for research and citing sources.

Google is great but it takes much of the joy out of actually having to hunt down a source when you know damn well you are right.