# What can I do with a 50 year old encyclopedia? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830 "2014-10-19T17:29:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/21 "2014-10-20T04:25:18Z")
Read it. In about 1980, I got one from near the turn of the century, when Oslo was still named Christiania. It was delight to read historical accounts of things from the viewpoint of people several generations earlier. There is also a lot of historical material in there that had to be deleted in later editions, in order to make room for the huge amount of new material that accumulated subsequently. There are entire pages in old editions that have been reduced to a paragraph in later versions, or excised completely, or altered to meet modern standards of academia, including the heavy hand of political correctness… The internet was created in the last decade of the century, by very young people, who had little or no interest in documenting anything that preceded their own lifetime, which was not sufficiently hip to deserve their attention. Historical data has now back-filled quite a lot of the gaps, but there is still a lot that can be found in old encyclopedias that is either glossed over or deleted from more modern versions. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/22 "2014-10-20T05:51:49Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Come on, admit it. You just want to look at the female bare-breasted photos, don’t you? > > 😃 This joke would have worked better if we weren’t having this conversation through the internet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/23 "2014-10-20T06:05:56Z")
I’ve got a low-spot in my back yard that could use some filling in. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/24 "2014-10-20T12:16:06Z")
My most local thrift shop does not accept books over ten years old. My next book donation option is a local charitable outlet called [The Book Thing of Baltimore](http://www.bookthing.org/). They take all sorts of books. After no interest through craigslist or freecycle I am taking my 1960s 12 volume Interpreters’ Bible there this very day. I like to imagine other cities have similar operations. Regarding magazine collections, I understand if you have a different vision for them but perhaps you could donate them to a school. Recently I was at a meeting of parents to support the visual art department at my son’s school. The teachers asked for magazines, specifically mentioning National Geographic. They were not asking for a specific project, just saying that they always need magazines with good pictures for collage projects and to use as source material. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/25 "2014-10-20T12:28:06Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > My most local thrift shop does not accept books over ten years old. I’m kind of surprised by this; the thrift store I used to work for took pretty much any printed materials, as we made money off of recycling the material we couldn’t sell. We filled a [Gaylord](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_box) box with books and magazines every couple of days, shipped it out, and got $50 or so (the company which bought them went through them as well, pulled stuff out for re-sale, then pulped the rest). Same thing with otherwise unusable clothing, shoes, etc. About the only things we wouldn’t take were wet/dirty items and bags of wire hangers. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to call ahead, though. I could see a mom-and-pop thrift having difficulty with arranging for profitable recycling, but the big organizations quite possibly have arrangements in place. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/26 "2014-10-20T15:17:12Z")
I couldn’t give away NatGeo issues 30 years ago. But, if I was down the street from you I would take the old encyclopedias however. I just finished reading through the entire 1949 edition. It would be interesting to read the next version, see how much changed. (based on experience, most of the entries don’t change at all) And yes, it took almost three years. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/27 "2014-10-20T22:39:10Z")
I have a set of 1960s Britannicas, and I quite enjoy reading them. I even noticed an error in one article. > [@Baker](#): > > I’ve got a similar problem. I have a collection of National Geographic Magazines. > > They are all boxed up, in chronological order, and each magazine is in a plastic slip cover. All maps for issues are present. > > One hundred **YEARS** of magazines, 1914 to the present. Takes up a lot of space. They need a new home. If someone wanted them and would take them all I’d let them go for the price of coming and picking them up. But it would be all or nothing. > > I’ve explored different ways of “advertising” them, but so far no takers. I’d take them! I don’t have any NGs older than 1950. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/28 "2014-10-21T00:41:24Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > You’ve tried freecycle, right? Lots of homeschoolers would take them, I’m sure. Not so sure about that. IIRC lot’s of NG stories involved geology, a wide range of sciences and even evolution. That’s not exactly your go to audience for that. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/29 "2014-10-21T01:12:39Z")
I see that complete sets of the '65 series have [sold for $40-$50 on eBay](http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=1965+set+encyclopedia+britannica&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc). Shipping would probably eat that up, though. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/30 "2014-10-21T14:29:51Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I’ve got a similar problem. I have a collection of National Geographic Magazines. > > They are all boxed up, in chronological order, and each magazine is in a plastic slip cover. All maps for issues are present. > > One hundred **YEARS** of magazines, 1914 to the present. Takes up a lot of space. They need a new home. If someone wanted them and would take them all I’d let them go for the price of coming and picking them up. But it would be all or nothing. > > I’ve explored different ways of “advertising” them, but so far no takers. I had old NGs, too Donated them to the local VFW, who, in turn, sent them off to a regional VA hospital; the old-timers would appreciate the nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![troubledwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@troubledwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troubledwater)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/31 "2014-10-22T01:17:27Z")
I asked this very question on this board a few months ago, for my EB of a similar vintage. The best lead was Half Price Books. I emailed them to be sure they would take them and was told they do. I drove WAY out of my way to take them there only to find that actually, no, they don’t. I wound up dumping them at a nearby Savers (chain thrift store) which I could have done at home. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/32 "2014-10-22T02:27:45Z")
1965 might be a little young, but it’s always fun to find the horribly outdated references to phlogiston or whatever else has been shown wrong, or the blatantly racist and outdated things. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/33 "2014-10-22T02:37:10Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > 1965 might be a little young, but it’s always fun to find the horribly outdated references to phlogiston or whatever else has been shown wrong, or the blatantly racist and outdated things. For that, you want the 1946 edition. Chock full of all kinds of old entries (they seldom update many of them) ripe with a stark look into history. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/34 "2014-10-22T07:47:01Z")
> [@X.L.Lent](#): > > Any suggestions on what > I can do with it instead of just throwing it into the trash? You CAN cut out each page, in order , and mail each page to “the owner”. Now if you ask me what SHOULD you do, that’s a different question… ---
**Author:** ![Jameson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jameson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jameson)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/35 "2014-10-22T07:51:20Z")
Why would you want to trash a book? And so what that we have INTERNET? So what that it’s old? It’s a book. BOOK! Also Encyclopedia Britannica - it may be a treasure for someone. Find someone who will love and appreciate it or give it to some used books bookstore. Gosh, why would anyone trash a good book. Yes I love books and I think they will never become obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/36 "2014-10-22T08:02:06Z")
> [@Jameson](#): > > Why would you want to trash a book? And so what that we have INTERNET? So what that it’s old? It’s a book. BOOK! Also Encyclopedia Britannica - it may be a treasure for someone. Find someone who will love and appreciate it or give it to some used books bookstore. Gosh, why would anyone trash a good book. Yes I love books and I think they will never become obsolete. Old encyclopedias are worse than trash in the minds of most librarians. They’re outdated, they’re heavy, and people think that if you throw them away (even if NO ONE wants them) you’re some kind of monster. For a general purpose encyclopedia, the Internet is a million times better. Plus, not every book needs to be saved. Stuff that’s in horrible condition needs to go. Nine times out of ten, if it’s something worthwhile, someone else will have a decent copy or it will have been reprinted in a new edition. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/37 "2014-10-22T10:42:17Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Here you go … > > [National Geographic Magazine Archive](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/complete-national-geographic/) Looks like the same “computer product” they’ve had for decades. Not at all fun. No good for browsing or searching or … actually, just useless. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/38 "2014-10-22T10:43:23Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Old encyclopedias are worse than trash in the minds of most librarians. They’re outdated, they’re heavy, and people think that if you throw them away (even if NO ONE wants them) you’re some kind of monster. For a general purpose encyclopedia, the Internet is a million times better. > > Plus, not every book needs to be saved. Stuff that’s in horrible condition needs to go. Nine times out of ten, if it’s something worthwhile, someone else will have a decent copy or it will have been reprinted in a new edition. Ahhhh yes. Librarians – the natural enemy of books. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/39 "2014-10-22T12:24:30Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Ahhhh yes. Librarians – the natural enemy of books. All joking aside, librarians care about content, not the item itself. Scan the pages for historical value and, if they’re in poor shape, toss the encyclopedias. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830/40 "2014-10-22T12:43:03Z")
A set of encyclopedias makes pretty good winter ballast in your car’s trunk. And you can rip out bits for better traction when you get stuck (I favor I-L). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-a-50-year-old-encyclopedia/701830.md?page=3)