Okay, so. If you recall, the initial mission statement of The Wonderland of Knowledge Wednesdays was to prove once and for all that I, Ramsey Ess, am better than anyone that lived in 1968. This should be a tall order to fill. However, if they keep tossing me softballs like the entry for “blindness,” I’m going [...]

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I’m about to drop some Wonderland of Knowledge on y’all!
In 2009, after Canada, Australia is probably the country that American’s feel the most comfortable with. We all speak the same language, though we find their particular vernacular delightfully cartoonish. We make references to their cultural identity (”dingos,” “shrimp,” “barbies”) without understanding the significance or meaning [...]

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A few people have asked me how it is that I pick what entry I will use each Wednesday for “The Wonderland of Knowledge Wednesdays.” It always starts with me picking a random volume off the shelf and a few flips through the pages. I will then stop when something looks interesting or if there’s [...]

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The Wonderland of Knowledge Wednesdays returns (triumphantly) with another look at the animal world. We’ve seen the horrible puns that the book used for geese (and then some geese took out an airplane over the Hudson River the very next day), we’ve seen the authors’ feelings towards birds, but today’s entry marks the first time we’ve [...]

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From 1968 to the present day, firefighters have gone through a bit of a “public perception makeover” (please note, despite my use of quotation marks, this is not an accepted phrase). After the September 11th tragedy, the status of firefighter has changed dramatically from “hated enemy of the police department” to “hero.” This is all [...]

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The Wonderland of Knowledge is an encyclopedia created for children. I know that. Even though week after week I’m pointing out it’s educational faults or the fact that it’s entirely outdated, I keep in mind that these volumes were written for the children of 1968. I feel that I have kept this in mind as [...]

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As RamseyEss.com historians will one day note, last week’s The Wonderland of Knowledge Wednesday entry was the shortest Wonderland of Knowledge Wednesday entry ever to appear on this site.
When I post an entry from the encyclopedia without much commentary from myself, the next week I try to find one that will allow me to write something [...]

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This actually happened.
 
 
 

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Well, gentle readers, today is the Wednesday where we anxiously wait for 2008 to become 2009. Since my edition of The Wonderland of Knowledge will become 41 years old today, it only seems appropriate that this Wednesday’s edition examine what Volume 9 has to say about “New Year’s Day.”
It was short, and didn’t have any pictures [...]

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The Wonderland of Knowledge deals with all topics, whether they be large (World War II) or small (hummingbirds (and I’m assuming here, because the person who threw out the seven volumes that I have either threw it out earlier or kept Volume 7 for some reason).
With this in mind, and because it’s just plain apropo for December [...]

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