Slice answers
Thursday's print Slice will feature several readers' recollections of buying encyclopedia sets from door-to-door salesmen.
There's not a lot of sex or violence in these stories. But it is a small snapshot of American life before the Internet.
Here are a few to prime the pump.
In 1972, Toni Ratzlaff and her husband bought a set of Grolier encyclopedias from a guy who showed up at their door. They were thinking ahead to when they would have children.
"During the sales pitch, the salesman said that we could submit a letter to Grolier stating why we liked/bought the books and one such buyer would get their set free."
Ratzlaff got creative with her entry, using the letters G-R-O-L-I-E-R as the starting points of her praises-singing. And she won.
Ray Blowers and his wife bought a Britannica set. "To sweeten the deal, they tossed in a set of childrens story books and an A-Z set of childrens science books. It seemed like a good deal at the time because we were expecting our third child. In the pre-Internet days of 1959, books were actually used as home reference sources."
"My folks bought the Encyclopedia Britannica back in 1962 or '63," wrote Jerry Birr. "Still have it around here somewhere."
Caryn Alley was among the other readers from whom I heard about this. "You asked if anyone ever bought encyclopedias from a door-to-door salesman. Well, not only did we buy a set of World Book encyclopedias in 1979 -- I STILL HAVE THEM!
"My children and grandchildren continually ask me why, when I can get all the info I need on the Internet. But you just never know when they might come in handy."
Another Slice reader said he bought a set in part because the saleswoman was knee-bucklingly attractive. He did not elaborate. So I can't add any...
Dear Penthouse: I was bummed because my girlfriend had dumped me. So I had decided to ditch work one morning and was home watching TV in my bathrobe when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and the first thing I noticed was...
