Who else bought their Funk & Wagnalls from Lucky's? (Bell: house, buying)

[Exitus Acta Probat]

My parents did that back in the 80's. Lucky's would sell a few volumes one week, then a few more the next, etc., or something like that. And then they offered the addendums such as years in review, etc. Who else remembers that?

Kind of weird, buying encyclopedias from a grocery store, but it was the 80's...

[Cinema Cat]

In the 1960s, my parents bought many encyclopedias in grocery stores.

* A 6 volume geography encyclopedia. One for each continent. (I think Australia and Antarctica shared a volume.)

* A 12 volume American Heritage History of the United States.

This one here: https://www.amazon.com/Mexico-Americ.../dp/B000GD21T4

* A 16 volume Golden Book Encyclopedia.

This one here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-15-The-...-/254242513805

* A 12 volume Home Health & Medical Encyclopedia.

* And a Funk & Wagnel's.

I'm not sure about all the names, or the exact number of volumes. That's as best as I remember it.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

F & W had a medical encyclopedia available as well at Lucky's.

Were encyclopedias a common thing at grocery stores in the 60's? I seem to remember it being something of a novelty in the 80's, and it was sort of a big deal back in the day, when you got all your info from books since almost nobody had the Interwebs for Computers and there was barely anything on BBS's -- mostly just chat rooms, a few simple games, and images of bikini girls that took 5-10 minutes each to download.

[Cinema Cat]

The late 1960s, early 1970s was when my mother bought most of her encyclopedias. Large, thin, reader-friendly volumes usually. Not thick Britannicas.

It seems whenever one encyclopedia reached its final volume, the following week the grocery had a new encyclopedia promotion.

The Home Health & Medical encyclopedia had a light gray cover.

Back then, middle class parents thought it was a good thing to fill up their homes with encyclopedias.

[Forever Blue]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

My parents did that back in the 80's. Lucky's would sell a few volumes one week, then a few more the next, etc., or something like that. And then they offered the addendums such as years in review, etc. Who else remembers that?

Kind of weird, buying encyclopedias from a grocery store, but it was the 80's...

Yep, my parents bought the whole set for me too! I really don't remember it being Lucky's for us. I think it was The Boys. I think it's still back at my parents' house den in the bookshelf.

[C2ShiningC]

My family got ours in the late 1960s from Thriftimart, a one-volume set where you got one section at a time. I carried that thing around with me for decades until it got lost in a move. This is from a 1968 newspaper ad:

[Ergo Para Bellum]

Our was from Gemco.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by Ergo Para Bellum

Our was from Gemco.

I can't remember if I ever went to a Gemco, but I remember Fedco out in the valley. That's where people went for their walkmans or Casio keyboards. Casio watches too. Or pens that had a digital clock built into them.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

I can't remember if I ever went to a Gemco

May have been before your time. https://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...ber-gemco.html

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

My parents did that back in the 80's. Lucky's would sell a few volumes one week, then a few more the next, etc., or something like that. And then they offered the addendums such as years in review, etc. Who else remembers that?

Kind of weird, buying encyclopedias from a grocery store, but it was the 80's...

The name of the store/chain was Lucky, not Lucky’s.

Similarly, another chain is Safeway, not Safeway’s.

Perhaps some people get confused because some chains do use the possessive (it is Gelson’s, not Gelson).