The Old Farmer's Almanac is an almanac containing weather forecasts, planting charts, astronomical data, recipes, and articles. Topics include gardening, sports, astronomy, folklore, and predictions on trends in fashion, food, home, technology, and living for the coming year. Published every September, The Old Farmer's Almanac has been published continuously since 1792, making it the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. The publication follows in the heritage of American almanacs such as Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard's Almanack.[3][4][5]
The first Old Farmer's Almanac (then known as The Farmer's Almanac) was edited by Robert Bailey Thomas, the publication's founder.[6]
There were many competing almanacs in the 18th century, but Thomas's book was a success.[6] In its second year, distribution tripled to 9,000.[3] The initial cost of the book was six pence (about four cents).[7]
To calculate the Almanac's weather predictions, Thomas studied solar activity,[8] astronomy cycles and weather patterns and used his research to develop a secret forecasting formula, which is still in use today.[7] Other than the Almanac's prognosticators, few people have seen the formula. It is kept in a black tin box at the Almanac offices in Dublin, New Hampshire.[3]
Thomas also started drilling a hole through the Almanac so that subscribers could hang it from a nail or a string.[9]
Thomas served as editor until his death on May 19, 1846. As its editor for more than 50 years, Thomas established The Old Farmer's Almanac as America's "most enduring" almanac by outlasting the competition.[6]
Becoming "Old"
In 1832, with his almanac having survived longer than similarly named competitors, Thomas inserted the word "Old" in the title,[3] later dropping it in the title of the 1836 edition. After Thomas's death, John Henry Jenks was appointed editor and, in 1848, the book's name was permanently and officially revised to The Old Farmer's Almanac.
19th and 20th centuries
The cover of the 1851 edition.
In 1851, Jenks made another change to the Almanac when he featured a "four seasons" drawing on the cover by Boston artist Hammatt Billings, engraved by Henry Nichols. Jenks dropped the new cover for three years and then reinstated it permanently in 1855. This trademarked design is still in use today.
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln may have used a copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac to argue the innocence of his client, William "Duff" Armstrong, who was on trial for murder in Beardstown, Illinois.[10] Lincoln used an almanac to refute the testimony of Charles Allen, an eyewitness who claimed he had seen the crime by the light of the moon[11] on August 29, 1857.
The book stated that not only was the Moon in the first quarter, but it was riding "low" on the horizon, about to set. Because the actual almanac used in the trial was not retained for posterity, there exists some controversy as to whether The Old Farmer's Almanac was the one used. In 2007, a competing almanac, the Farmers' Almanac, based in Lewiston, Maine, ran an article claiming that the almanac in question may have been theirs.[12]
In 1861, Charles Louis Flint became editor and provided his readers with a heavier emphasis on farming. The next two editors, John Boies Tileston and Loomis Joseph Campbell, served short terms and made no format changes.[13]
Robert Ware took over as the book's sixth editor in 1877 and served for 23 years before his brother, Horace, was named to the position in 1900. During Horace Everett Ware's 19 years as editor, he began to orient the book toward a more general audience by replacing the scientific agricultural articles with general features on nature and modern life.[13]
The eighth and ninth editors, Frank B. Newton and Col. Carroll J. Swan, kept The Old Farmer's Almanac tradition alive through wartime and the Depression.[13]
Roger Scaife was appointed editor in 1936.[3] His term coincided with the only time in the history of The Old Farmer's Almanac that its distribution declined and the book's financial stability fell into question. The 1938 edition had a circulation of less than 89,000, compared with 225,000 in 1863.[13]
During his tenure, Scaife also committed the greatest of all blunders in Almanac history: In the 1938 edition, he dropped the weather forecasts.[3] In their place, he substituted temperature and precipitation averages.[14] The public outcry was so great that he reinstated the forecasts in the next year's edition,[3] but the decision had already destroyed his reputation.[13]
A new beginning
Yankee Publishing, Inc. Headquarters. Publishers of The Old Farmer's Almanac and Yankee Magazine in Dublin, NH
In 1939, Robb Sagendorph, founder and president of Yankee, Inc. (later known as Yankee Publishing, Inc.), acquired the publishing rights to The Old Farmer's Almanac and became its editor.[14] Sagendorph had moved his family to Dublin, New Hampshire in 1930, and started the magazine Yankee in 1935.[15]
Feeling that tradition was The Old Farmer's Almanac's strongest suit, Sagendorph immediately reestablished its format and editorial style to reflect the interests of the general populace much as it had a century earlier.[14] He was fond of quoting Robert B. Thomas, who wrote in 1829 that the Almanac "strives to be useful, but with a pleasant degree of humor."[16][17] Under Sagendorph's leadership, The Old Farmer's Almanac thrived and readership grew each year.[14]
Publication nearly halts
During World War II, a German spy was apprehended in New York with a copy of the 1942 Old Farmer's Almanac in his pocket.[3]
From 1943 through 1945, to comply with the U.S. Office of Censorship's voluntary Code of Wartime Practices for press and radio, The Old Farmer's Almanac featured weather indications rather than forecasts.[18][19][20] This allowed it to maintain its perfect record of continuous publication.
Recent history
The Old Farmer's Almanac Logo
Sagendorph served as the Almanac's editor until his death in 1970. His nephew, Judson D. Hale Sr., took over and kept the Almanac true to the vision of his uncle. In 2000, the editorial reins were passed to Janice Stillman, the first woman in the Almanac's history to hold the position, and she was succeeded, in 2023, by Carol Connare.[21] Carol is the 14th person to hold the title of editor since it was first published in 1792.[22] Hale still acts as the publication's editor in chief. In 1992, the Almanac's distribution passed the four million mark.[3] It is still headquartered in Dublin, New Hampshire.
In the 1990s, the editors decided to discontinue drilling the hole in the Almanac because it was costing them $40,000 a year and they felt that it was no longer needed. However, when they surveyed their subscribers, the response was overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the holes, so the editors decided to continue drilling them.[9]
Editions
The Old Farmer's Almanac publishes four editions per year. Its annual circulation is 3 million copies.[23]
The only difference between the three U.S. editions is the city by which astronomical information is calculated and how tide times are presented. The National edition is fitted for Boston and the New England states;[24] the Southern edition is fitted for Atlanta and the southern states;[25] and the Western edition is fitted for San Francisco and the western states.[26] Each edition contains calculations to answer for all the United States.[24][25][26]
In 1982, The Old Farmer's Almanac began publishing an annual Canadian edition.[27] This edition is fitted for Ottawa, with calculations to answer for all the Canadian provinces,[28] and features provincial weather forecasts as well as stories that speak specifically to the history, traditions, and culture of the country.
Weather predictions
Forecasts emphasize temperature and precipitation deviations from averages. These are based on 30-year statistical averages prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and updated every ten years. The most recent climatological normals tabulation spans the period 1971 through 2000.[29]
While The Old Farmer's Almanac has always looked to Thomas's original formula to help with predictions, its forecasting methods have been refined over the years. Today, they also incorporate observations of sunspots and other solar activity. Weather trends and events are predicted by comparing solar patterns and historical weather conditions with current solar activity.[8]
Forecasts are prepared as much as 18 months in advance[8] and presented in each edition by region. There are 16 regions for the U.S.[30] and five for Canada[31] in their respective country editions. Four additional regions are available on the Almanac's Web site, Almanac.com. These include Hawaii and Alaska for the U.S. and the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories for Canada.[32]
In 2008, the Almanac stated that the earth had entered a global cooling period that would probably last decades. The journal based its prediction on sunspot cycles. Said contributing meteorologist Joseph D'Aleo, "Studying these and other factor suggests that cold, not warm, climate may be our future."[33]
Accuracy
A number of analyses have concluded that the forecasts in The Old Farmer's Almanac are not very accurate.[34][35] For example, USA Today stated that "according to numerous media analyses neither The Old Farmer's Almanac nor the Farmers' Almanac gets it right."[34] John Walsh at the University of Illinois reviewed five years of monthly forecasts and found 50.7% of the temperature forecasts and 51.9% of precipitation forecasts were in the correct direction, whereas a randomly generated forecast would be correct 50% of the time.[36][37]
In its bicentennial edition, the Almanac stated "neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather with anything resembling total accuracy."[3]
Related publications and entities
Under The Old Farmer's Almanac brand, Yankee Publishing also produces The Old Farmer's Almanac Garden Guide, an annual gardening resource,[38] and The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids, an Almanac-inspired book designed for children ages 8 and up.[39] The latter is published every other year.
In addition to annual and biannual books, the Almanac has inspired a line of themed calendars including Gardening, Weather Watcher's, and Country (all for wall display); Every Day (with advice, folklore, and quotes in a page-a-day format); and a spiral-bound Engagement calendar.
Over the years, the Almanac has published several cookbooks, food-related magazines, and a guide for homeowners.
In 1996, The Old Farmer's Almanac launched Almanac.com.[41] This online presence features the same kind of information found in the print edition, including weather forecasts, astronomy, folklore, recipes, gardening advice, history, and trivia.
The Almanac Webcam was installed and launched in February 2003.[42] A second camera was installed and launched in September 2008.[43] New cameras were installed and launched on May 8, 2015,[44] giving a much clearer picture of the historical buildings in downtown Dublin, New Hampshire, and The John Pierce Memorial Garden.
In 2003, The Old Farmer's Almanac distributed a 32-page Almanac Just For Kids.[45] The positive response[45] led to the release of The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids in 2005, and the Almanac launched Almanac4kids.com.[46] This site is dedicated to content for younger readers, their parents, and teachers, featuring interactive activities and exclusive articles that further explore topics found in the book.[45]
In addition to the official websites, the Almanac also maintains a large social media presence.[47] The Almanac can be found on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and several other social sites. In August 2015, The Almanac's Facebook page reached one million fans.[48]
Benjamin Banneker was an African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. A landowner, he also worked as a surveyor and farmer.
An almanac is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other tabular data often arranged according to the calendar. Celestial figures and various statistics are found in almanacs, such as the rising and setting times of the Sun and Moon, dates of eclipses, hours of high and low tides, and religious festivals. The set of events noted in an almanac may be tailored for a specific group of readers, such as farmers, sailors, or astronomers.
Poor Richard's Almanack was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. It sold exceptionally well for a pamphlet published in the Thirteen Colonies; print runs reached 10,000 per year.
Whitaker's is a reference book, published annually in the United Kingdom. It was originally published by J Whitaker & Sons from 1868 to 1997, next by The Stationery Office until 2003 and then by A & C Black, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomsbury Publishing in 2011. The publication was acquired by Rebellion Publishing in 2020, with the 153rd edition appearing on 15 April 2021. In mid-2022, Rebellion announced that there would not be a 2022 edition.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, or simply Wisden, colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a review for the London Mercury. In October 2013, an all-time Test World XI was announced to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Farmers' Almanac is an annual American periodical that has been in continuous publication since 1818. Published by Geiger of Lewiston, Maine, the Farmers' Almanac provides long-range weather predictions for both the U.S. and Canada. The periodical also provides calendars and articles on topics such as full moon dates, folklore, natural remedies, and the best days to do various outdoor activities.
Old Moore's Almanack is an astrological almanac which has been published in Britain since 1697.
Old Moore's Almanac is an almanac which has been published for nearly two and a half centuries. Its founder, Theophilus Moore, ran a classical academy at Milltown which was then a village near Dublin. A teacher of Irish, English, Greek and Latin, he became known as a clever mathematician and a wizard of astrology, gaining the nickname 'The Irish Merlin'. He published his Old Moore's Almanac for the first time in 1764, and received such support that the other Irish almanacs gradually dwindled away. Theophilus Moore is now buried in the Drumcondra Churchyard, in Dublin, but the tradition of Old Moore's Almanac continues unbroken to this day.
Ann Smith Franklin was an American colonial newspaper printer and publisher. She inherited the business from her husband, James Franklin, brother of Benjamin Franklin. She published the Mintunt, printed an almanac series. She was the country’s first female newspaper editor, the first woman to write an almanac, and the first woman inducted into the University of Rhode Island's Journalism Hall of Fame.
Nathan Daboll was an American teacher who wrote the mathematics textbook most commonly used in American schools in the first half of the 19th century. During the course of his career, he also operated a popular navigation school for merchant mariners, and published a variety of almanacs during the American Revolution period.
Dudley Leavitt was an American publisher. He was an early graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy in his native town of Exeter, New Hampshire, and later moved to Gilmanton where he first edited a newspaper and taught school. Within a few years, Leavitt relocated to Meredith, where in addition to teaching school and farming, he began publishing in 1797 Leavitt's Farmers Almanack, one of the nation's earliest farmers' almanacs. A polymath, Leavitt poured his knowledge of disparate fields including mathematics, language and astronomy into the wildly popular almanacs, which outlived their creator, being published until 1896. The inaugural issue of 1797 carried the title of The New England Calendar: Or, Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1797. On the cover was the disclaimer that the new publication was "Calculated for the Meridian of Concord, Latitude 43° 14' N. Longitude 72° 45' W.: And with But Little Variation Will Answer for Any of the New England States."
Ames' Almanack (almanac) was the first almanac printed in the British North American colonies. While Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack is more widely known, the Ames' Almanack had a much larger readership. Franklin's publication had a circulation of 10,000 copies compared to 60,000 for the Ames' Almanack.
Groundhog Day is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow, it will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive early. In 2024, an early spring was predicted.
Ken Ring is a writer from Auckland, New Zealand, who asserts that he can use lunar cycles to predict weather and earthquakes. He terms his predictions "alternative weather" and has authored books about the weather and climate. Ring publishes almanacs each year for New Zealand, Australia and Ireland in which he provides weather predictions for the entire year. His New Zealand almanac covers 64 towns. Ring's methods have been shown to be unscientific and have been widely confirmed as fake and pseudoscience by many real scientists in the fields of meteorology and geology.
A tradition of almanacs published for the purposes of North America began in New England in the 17th century. A New World's dwelling would seldom be found without the latest print of North American almanac and The Pilgrim's Progress.
The weather media in the United States includes coverage of weather and weather forecasting by farmers' almanacs, newspapers, radio, television stations, and the internet. Farmers' Almanacs have taken a stab at forecasting for the following year or so for around two centuries. At first, weather media included reporting on past events, with forecasting playing a role from the late 19th century onward. Weather-related information proliferated to near real-time after the invention of the telegraph. Radio and satellite broadcasts made weather-related communication ever quicker, with the World Wide Web making broadcasting and reporting nearly instantaneous.
Yankee Publishing, Inc. is a publisher of books, magazines, calendars, and other periodicals, based in Dublin, New Hampshire, United States.
William Felker is an American former professor at Central State University, and author.
J. Gruber's Hagerstown Town & Country Almanack is an almanac published by Gruber Almanack, LLC in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1797, it was created by John Gruber and Daniel May, making it the second-oldest almanac to be published in the United States, behind the Old Farmer's Almanac. It is currently the oldest almanac still published by the direct descendants of the founder, being edited by the great-great-great-great great grandson of John Gruber, Charles W. Fisher, Jr. From 1969 to 2019, Bill O'Toole, a retired math professor, was the almanac's "weather prognosticator", using both solar and lunar charting as well as a variety of computer programs to predict the weather. A short documentary of the almanac was created in 2012.
↑ Kittredge, George Lyman (1920). The Old Farmer and His Almanack. Harvard University Press. Accordingly in June or July, 1792, he went to Boston and entered the mathematical school kept by Osgood Carleton "in an unfinished building in Merchant's Row." Here he worked until the latter part of August, and made all the calculations for the first number of the Farmer's Almanack, that for 1793.
1 2 3 4 Sagendorph, Robb (January 1965). "My Life with the Old Farmer's Almanac". The American Legion Magazine. pp.24–26, 50–52.
↑ New Hampshire Secretary of State – Corporation Division (August 5, 1935). "Corporation Filings". Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2007.
↑ Thomas, Robert B. (1829). "To Patrons". The Old Farmer's Almanac. Richardson and Lord (XXXVII): 1.
↑ Thomas, Robert B. (1825). The Farmer's Almanack. Boston: Richardson & Lord – via Digital Commons @ Winthrop University. During the many years the Farmer's Almanack has been published, we have never relaxed to use our utmost endeavors to make it correct, amusing, and useful.... Note that there are no page numbers, but the quoted passage appears on the second page of the almanac at the top in the section titled, "To Patrons and Correspondents."
↑ "To Patrons and Correspondents". The Old Farmer's Almanac (151): 2. 1943.
↑ "To Patrons and Correspondents". The Old Farmer's Almanac (152): 2. 1944.
↑ "To Patrons and Correspondents". The Old Farmer's Almanac (153): 2. 1945.
↑ "Title Page". The Old Farmer's Almanac – Canadian Edition (215): 1. 2007.
↑ National Climatic Data Center, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce (2007). "U.S. Normals". Archived from the original on October 11, 2001. Retrieved February 24, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ "Table of Contents". The Old Farmer's Almanac – National Edition (215): 2. 2007.
↑ "Table of Contents". The Old Farmer's Almanac – Canadian Edition (215): 2. 2007.
Hale, Judson. ed. The Best of the Old Farmer’s Almanac: The First 200 Years (1991).
Kittredge, George Lyman (1920). The Old Farmer and His Almanack. Harvard University Press – via Google Books.First impression 1904, Second impression 1920.
A fifty year retrospective was published for the 1842 edition of the almanac (issue number 50), and is republished on pages 19 through 22 of The Old Farmer and His Almanack. The full 1842 issue can be found on Internet Archive.
Search for: title:("Farmer's Almanack") AND creator:(Thomas, Robert Bailey) sorted by date published ascending - This will produce a number of back issues of Robert Bailey Thomas's work, and by using the earlier spelling "almanack" rather than "almanac" they will be from earlier years (both with and without "old" added).
Search for: title:("Old Farmer's Almanac") - Produces back issues along with other content from Yankee Publishing (such as books on cooking, gardening, and advice), and also materials that reference The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Search for: title:("Farmer's Almanac") sorted by date published ascending - Produces back issues of The Old Farmer's Almanac but also many other almanacs as well including ones from the 19th century and early 20th century, and various other content as well.
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