I did too, with a knockoff 1970 World Book set that my parents bought in Taiwan. All of the pages about communist rule in China had been blanked out.
I wish I were nearby. I’d actually be glad to have it.
I’d love to see such a set - that was the year I graduated high school - it would be a hoot to leaf thru them. I don’t suppose you live near DC?
Why?
Not trying to be snarky - but if you told us why you want it, maybe we can figure out someone else with the same need/desire.
There are instructions online on how to make a hollowed-out book (like to hide stuff inside). I guess you could make them into a set of those and *then *try to sell 'em. It’s possible (but not probably) that they’re nearly useless in their current state but can be made into something useful.
And now you’re gay! Encyclopaedias are the devil! 
I just like old things, really: and as a family, we have a deep love of history. In 1972, I would have been going into third grade. Some of our favorite times are telling the kids how things used to be, and I think they would find it fascinating.
I was serious about donating it to that ship. I’ve seen the supplies that they take; an old encyclopedia might be quite a coup. If there’s no way to get it to them this time, they could probably store it in the warehouse until the next trip.
A used book store will sell them to somebody as a books by the foot purchase for decorating.
I read a story where books were valuable even though most people didn’t read. People burned them to stay warm in a world that was short on resources.
I have a 1958 Encyclopaedia Britannica from the church library which I’ve kept for its heavy detail, its excellent writing style, and the charm of the 1950s.
I’m not a teacher, but I’d think a school could make use of encyclopedias from different years (eras!) in order to teach a rather valuable lesson about how our understanding of things change, how new information can change our perception of things, how countries and political power shift over time, etc. I can imagine an interesting history/social studies project comparing encyclopedia entries from different years; and then tossing in what can be found in a Google search and asking the student to summarize what we really know about stuff.
I would have liked such a project in school, I think. Especially since growing up, the World Book was the first place we went for references for “term papers”.
I have a 1960 World Book for some of those same reasons, though obviously it can’t boast the heavy detail of the above. It also has the “charm of the 1950s” in trainloads, including not least a very pro-capitalist, anti-communist/socialist geopolitical philosophy which assured the reader that nearly everyone in the Communist world was poor, miserable, and oppressed, while nearly everyone everywhere else in the world was happy, and not too terribly poor if they couldn’t say more than that. Or they were happy with what they had. As a document of the era’s attitudes, I thought my set was an interesting artifact of its time and that it should therefore be used as such, and kept together. I tried earnestly to find someone who would take the whole set and promise to keep it together, but got no takers. (I have more room for books now, so I’m keeping it for the time being).
Soon afterwards, I realized why the political tone of the articles is the way it is. The World Book Encyclopedia has been published since the 1910s, and a large share of their market is the public schools. From the first Red Scare* of around that time, many public school systems in the United States strenuously sought to exclude any material from textbooks and school libraries that could possibly paint communism or socialism in anything like a positive light. The editors of the World Book built their product to suit. I’m not saying it isn’t worthy of respect even so–and it still is charming, definitely! But given the political context of the time, the tone and flavor of the books are to be expected.
*See for example The Goslings, by Upton Sinclair. Admittedly not a middle-of-the-road writer, but maybe he was no more left wing than the World Book was right wing.
Sigh. What a great idea. I’ve been in the edubiz for about 48 years, teaching in public schools and in universities. In the past twenty, at least, I would have paid dearly to find a teacher who thought that way about teaching and learning. Sadly, that type of teaching is disappearing. Not gone, fortunately, but definitely going. Creative, insightful, engaging - these are qualities that are not in much demand today. but which made teaching so exciting back in the day. I won’t go into all the reasons. You know most of them, anyway. I have asked many colleagues, friends and students who teach, many of them in poverty areas, if they want these books, and I’ve received only answers that parallel those above.
The 1911 Britannica is a wonderful and inexpensive gift to yourself if you have the room. The articles are long, erudite, and opinionated - just delightful. The article on Hunting tells you where to go to bag the maximum number of now-endangered species and what kind of gun the author thinks you should shoot 'em with.
My mom is one of those fantastic teachers, and I have to say she’s pretty much got my cousin following in her footsteps. I don’t really interact with many other teachers nowadays, but I have to believe there are a few more good ones out there! My mom has developed a reading program for grades 1 and 2 that the whole school board has adopted. My cousin sent her gr 3/4 kids out around town to meet local business owners and to write about what they do, and then published a book of their writing at the end of the year. One reason I decided to not become a teacher (amongst many others) is that I knew I could never maintain that passion that they have. But I admit that I do love discussing how children learn, and have an “academic” interest in education (if that makes sense!). I have learned so much from my mom; and still do!
[Anna Russell]Where I get ALL my information…[/Anna Russell]