The most money I’ve ever made was selling encyclopedias door to door, I hated the life style of me and my employees but I loved that many children would discover magic in those books.
Encyclopedias had changed my life as a child, and no matter how bad I felt in selling the expense to the parents, I knew that in the end there was a long range positive to the work.
Interesting. If you don’t mind me asking, what was it about the “lifestyle” of selling encyclopedias that you hated?
I bought the deluxe set from a salesman outside the PX at Schofield Barracks, HI, in 1988. He was pretty happy, but a few weeks later the mail room folks were not amused. I also got the complete and un-expurgated 100 volume set “Great Books Of All Time, Which You Will Probably Never Read”.
The World Book had a nice set, it is amazing to see how prevalent propaganda and so-called political correctness has rotted thoroughly into modern tomes. The set I have dates from 1966.
I also find indispensible, a 30s era Merriam-Websters dictionary.