After 244 Years, Encyclopædia Britannica Stops the Presses
 

Well, now I want one.

I think this sentence is all that needs to be printed to explain the entire situation:

I am proud to have been one among the "fleet of traveling salesmen" selling Encyclopedia.

It inspired me to get my butt to college.

I kind of liked randomly looking up things, then finding something else along the way.

Plus, it peaked with the 1911 edition when it had the perfect blend of comprehensiveness and casual genteel racism.

I do that with Wikipedia all the time. I'm on the site looking up info on something like a solar filament and the next thing I know, I'm reading about The Texas Rollergirls and two hours have disappeared.

As an aside, once I get Headliner off to college, I hope to use Wikitravel to plan trips. Hit the sites "Random page" button and go wherever it takes me. Today's destination would have been: Retezat National Park

Oh, I loved doing that, too!

Really? I don't find the digital version to be as amenable to random finds. I look for something, and find it, and that's that.

Sad to lose such a staple of my childhood.

Try the "Random page" link at wikipedia. You'll learn more soccer and cricket players than you'd ever believe existed.

I hit an NFL player at 31 clicks. Click 33 got me a soccer club. Belgian Pro League at 40. Finally hit a Japanese player at 42.