The Advertising of Yesterday Part XVII

Remember these?



Before Wikipedia, before the internet and before there were encyclopedias on CD, there was the Encyclopedia Britannica. This ad from 1970 features the multi-volume reference set that was all the rage through the 70's and 80's.

Sales of the encyclopedia hit a peak in the mid 90's and had come to a screeching halt by 1995. By late 1995 over half of the encyclopedia salesmen were out of work The nearly 30 year reference reign had ended sharply. By 1996, the market was flooded with out of work encyclopedia sales veterans looking for employment, many of whom ended up in the insurance industry.

By 2004 There was only one Encyclopedia Britannica salesman left, Scott Lohman. His sales territory was the United States. Since 1973 he had been peddling the reference collection to libraries, families and other institutions of learning. I remember when I was kid and even through high school, all the reports I had to write primarily reference the good ol' encyclopedia.

In early 2006 Lohman was ready to call it quits. But not before he made one final sale. The last Encyclopedia Britannica hard back sale was made to a church in Appalachia "...that believes electricity is the Devil's farts."

It's pretty amazing how something as signifigant as the encyclopedia just faded away without anyone noticing. I wonder what else will be impacted by technology. Newspaper perhaps? What else has gone away and we don't seem to miss it?

Have a great weekend everyone.