Mastodon/Fedi is the social network for people who read the encyclopedia for fun as a kid 🤔

@FlockOfCats My father spent a night in jail in an American small town for selling encyclopedias door to door in the late 1960s.

@softicecreamlesley @FlockOfCats we had two(!) sets of encyclopedias in the 1960s, presumably so Grandpa could flex. It was great until I got to college and found out Czechoslovakia was no longer one country

@soycamo @FlockOfCats hahahahaha
There was actually a Reel on Instagram where someone commented that they tried to send a letter to the Czech Republic at a Japanese Post Office and the worker said, “Oh, you mean Czechoslovakia?” Then the worker hauled out THE BOOK and looked it up, and to her surprise found out it was no longer 1992. 😂

@softicecreamlesley @soycamo @FlockOfCats

A friend of mine had an argument with an American bank teller who asked her which Germany she was from, because "I know there are two". My friend tried to explain to her that this was no longer the case, but eventually gave up and just said she was from West Germany. The teller replied "Thank you!" in the most sarcastic tone and proceeded to do the bank things she was there for.

This was in 2008.