ENCYCLOPEDIAS:
This is one way we got info before the Internet. Sadly, the ones we had at our house were outdated--from 1959! It was only at the library or school that I ever saw current ones. Britannica, Compton's and World Book were the most popular ones. Compton's was the one we had at our house.
There were also encyclopedia sets for children, such as Childcraft. I now wonder why I never got a set of these. I'm pretty sure I saw these at school, though.
I honestly can't remember the last time I used one. I had to do research papers in college, and it was during my last two years of college that the Internet began coming into vogue. But I cannot remember using the Internet much then. In my junior year, I did not yet have email, let alone use the Internet. It was during the last year of college that I got into all this. And going back further, when I started at a community college, I can remember doing an English class research paper, and using the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (stay tuned for more on this later in the A to Z).
ESPRIT
I know how popular this clothing brand was, but cannot for the life of me remember if I had any. Money was tight then, so I may not have not have had this one. Still it's fun to remember, since ads like this seemed to be everywhere.
These photos screen the 1980s! Other fashion reminiscences will be in other posts as I work my way through this blogging event--including one tomorrow.
ELECTRONICS:
In my day, calculators were expensive. We only had one if our parents could afford it. Most of our teachers didn't allow them to be used, except with permission and when necessary, such as in advanced math classes that required a scientific calculator. I was at community college when I got one of these for an intermediate algebra class, and then for a statistics class. Math was never my favorite subject!
As I said in another post, my first exposure to Apple computers was in school. I did not have one of my own until the 1990s, and have used one ever since.
And there were electronic toy gadgets for kids like these:
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I had Major Morgan, which I nearly forgot about until now. You could play different songs by inserting a card for each one. Though I never had Speak & Spell, I do remember the toy, thanks to TV ads and due to it being featured in a popular 1980s movie (see below). And there are still more gadgets posts to come.
E.T.
Is there anyone out there who did has not seen this movie, released back in 1982? Hard to believe it's been more than 40 years now!
When it celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2002, it was re-released, and I went to see it then. Seeing an '80s movie in a theater in the 2000s was a very strange experience!
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ENDING for today. FOLLOW me again tomorrow.
Encyclopedias sure have gone the way of the dodo bird now, haven't they?
ReplyDeleteGreat list this time, Jamie. I remember all those encyclopedias. I think we went to the library for our research. No wonder I love libraries so much.
ReplyDeleteOne a neighboring boy of my grandparents graduated high school, they gave me his set of Brittanica Encyclopedias. I was in Junior High and used them for the rest of my school years.
ReplyDeleteMy A to Z Blogs
DB McNicol - Small Delights, Simple Pleasures, and Significant Memories
My Snap Memories - My Life in Black & White
You almost had to replace encylopedias every couple of years for them to do you any good, because information changed so often. We never had one at home; we had to walk to the library, which was a good mile from home.
ReplyDeleteWe had Funk and Wagnall's!
ReplyDeleteBeth
https://bethlapinsatozblog.wordpress.com/
WE always had the supermarket encyclopedias when I was growing up. Later, after I finished high school, my mother bought various children's encyclopedias and other reference series for my younger brothers and sister. They also got some cool electronic toys which weren't around when I was their ages. I can't really complain though. I was always blessed with an abundance of fun and useful things. My mother was great.
ReplyDeleteLee
I used to love our encyclopedias. We had two sets. And we had Time-Life books on history to use as well. I remember years of sitting around the dining room table doing homework and using one or more of these books.
ReplyDelete