One massive set years ago, purchased so I would have as my kids grew. Damned if I know what happenened to them.

We did and I wish I still had them.

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.

Sure did. I used to plagerize it for my schoolwork.

We had a tall bookcase in Haiti, with several sets of encyclopedias that I used to read as though they were books. I especially loved the 19th century set that belonged to my grandparents..it showed girls how to ride sidesaddle.

The science section showed a picture of a "spaceship" "hurtling through space at a mile a minute!" that looked like the Wright brother's version, with sail-like wings, open decks like a ship and couples strolling around on deck (IN SPACE) in their long, poofy dresses, and men in top hats.

I LOVED it..

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!

Some that were so out of date by the time I got to high school they were useless.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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 set. We used them frequently.

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 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 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 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! ?

I had The World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica. I liked The World Book better. They were preinternet surfing for interesting tidbits of knowledge or for some in depth research.

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!

My grandparents had a set of World Book encyclopedias from 1964-ish. He bought the yearbook update every year. I read those books retry much cover to cover over the years. Helped open my eyes to the world beyond.

We had the encyclopedia Britannica

brittanica. i liked to page through them when i was a kid

I didn't, but wished that I did. We have little money and few books. There was also no public library in the small town, but during the school year, I used the school libraty constantly.

I did. I loved looking through them. I would often have multiple volumes open at once.