There are many things that I say, “Remember When” about, but nothing makes me say that more than when I look up information on the Internet rather than going to a book. I am of the generation where we looked for research information in an encyclopedia.

Do you remember when owning a set of encyclopedias meant your family was among the upper echelon of the town, school or neighborhood? We didn’t own encyclopedias for many years when I was growing up. Then, wonder of wonders, the grocery store had a special offering — if you spent so much money, you could purchase each letter of a set of encyclopedias. My parents were diligent about it, and we ended up with all of the volumes. I don’t remember the name of the particular set, but A to Z, they were all there — the green, hardcover binders glowing, just waiting for someone to open them up and discover the words and information inside. 

One of my sisters was still living at home at that time, and she and I did use these books for school projects. Unfortunately, we did discover our grocery store encyclopedias were not the best, and when more in depth research into certain topics had to be done, we needed to turn to the “Funk & Wagnalls” set of encyclopedias, “World Book” or to the top of the heap books, or so we thought, “Encyclopedia Britannica.” “Encyclopedia Britannica,” even the name conjured up grandeur. Door-to-door salesmen would come around peddling their wares, usually at the beginning of each school year, offering payment plans so parents could provide their students with the great, unparalleled “Encyclopedia Britannica.” My parents never did buy, but I so wanted them to take the salesman up on his offer.