My old encyclopedias just aren't worth anything anymore blues...

[TooCheep]

Moving this discussion over from another thread to not interfere there. Feel free to jump in...
@Mimi13 @007Sean

This is so sad, but last year when I was cleaning out my house I threw away an entire set of 1972 World Book Encyclopedias. I used those things forever. Unfortunately they aren’t accurate anymore. It breaks my heart because I know how much money those things cost way back when.

I volunteer for the library book sales here. You can't give old encyclopedia sets away. The old Time-Life series hardly bring in anything either. We do generate a fair amount of money for the library. In fact we've been beating records with almost every sale over the last year, but those big, bulky monsters have long-since been been replaced by the web.

I did call several places to see if by chance anyone might want them. Nope! You’d think I was trying to give away a mangy dog.

I also had the World Book “Science Yearbooks” and World Book “Year Books.” I think my parents purchased about 10-12 years of them. It’s really a shame.

Well, I look at it from a different perspective. People had to pay a lot of money to get that information at the time. It was therefore restricted to a comparatively small number of people. Hard earned and valued.

Now, information has been thrown open to the world and everyone, rich or poor, in the US or elsewhere has access. Those old books lost their value, but billions of people who didn't have access before now get a leg up. Not a bad trade.

And back to pictures...

I still have a complete set of Encyclopedia Britatica, edition 1965

 

[getaclue]

I had several sets of encyclopedias. I gave away 2 sets, but there is 1 set I'm keeping. It's a set of Collier encyclopedias. Dh thinks I'm nuts, but he never had encyclopedias when growing up. While some of the information is outdated, (and can be updated easily when I stumble onto something that needs updating) the majority of information is not outdated. While it's easy to get information online, I find that particular set of encyclopedias tend to give a lot more information, and delves deeper into subject matter. It gives details that not politically correct, like most of today's sources of information.

 

[TooCheep]

You grew up with them and are comfortable with them. Understandable. I still have an old-style component stereo with tower speakers. It is a quality setup, still works fine and I'm not cramped for space, so I see no reason to dump it. But now I listen to the majority of my music from my cell phone with earbuds while moving around. When the stereo finally dies, I won't replace it. There is always a place in people's hearts for antiques, but the world moves on.

 

[getaclue]

Wouldn't it be a kick in the pants, if in about 50 years they're collectable, and become worth some serious money?

 

[drumstick diva]

Just in case, I still have my Captain Midnight mug. Who knows how much it would be worth if I ran into someone who knew what that was.

 

[ValerieJ]

Here is a set on sale on Ebay right now, the 1960's edition. Last June I started looking for a set for my own collection of books. I wanted something in the 1960's versions before they started "correcting" information. I see it as historical. I think some parts of our history will be lost with time, and changing old historical records, like the encyclopedia, is one way we are doing it. I only paid $80 for my set last June, but that was after watching them on Ebay for a couple months. Several sets were going for $300-$400.