The Old Farmers Almanac: A History of History - Essay Example

– I was about 8 hours late getting this order finished for you, but believe me, it’s much better for the sleep. If this hasn’t unduly inconvenienced you, I’d greatly appreciate it if you could add one last extension on the order so that I am not penalized for being late. The completed paper is available for you below regardless. Although there are websites listed for several of the sources, they are actually online versions of magazine articles, books, radio programs and television programs. Only one source is an actual website. Student name Instructor name Course name Date The Old Farmer’s Almanac: A History of History People living on the shoreline, on the farm, in the cities or on the mountains have always had a need and a desire to know what to expect in the nature of weather or seasonal patterns to life. Whether they were planning on relocating to a new region or just trying to learn more about different places, until the age of the computer, finding this information was not always as simple as turning to the desktop. To help fulfill this need and desire, The Farmer’s Almanac was compiled. The purpose of the book was, as its founder Robert B. Thomas said, “to be useful, but with a pleasant degree of humor” (Old Farmer’s Almanac, 2009). Beginning in 1792, the Almanac has collected information regarding numerous weather and other events that might be of interest to its readers. Tide tables, time of sunrise and sunset, moon cycles, planting charts, recipes and forecasts were among the types of information the almanac attempted to provide. While these forecasts weren’t any more accurate than today’s computer and satellite-aided predictions, the Farmer’s Almanac was a success because of Thomas’ honest attempt to scientifically predict probable weather patterns at the same time that he attempted to entertain. This book has served a variety of purposes over the years, some of the most innovative being still in its early days. The history of the almanac started during George Washington’s first term of office and was intended to be an aid to the common citizenry. “An almanac, by definition, records and predicts astronomical events (the rising and setting of the sun, for instance), tides, weather and other phenomena with respect to time” (Farmer’s Almanac, 2009). Most people looked to the almanac as a guide to when they could expect specific things, such as the spring rains to know when to plant or the high tide to know when to sail. Although there were numerous almanacs available at the time, The Farmer’s Almanac, as it was called then, was the most popular in its time and the only one to survive to the present day. According to John Pierce (2007), this may be because of Thomas’ secret forecasting formula, which is still closely guarded and used today, developed after close research of solar activity, astronomy cycles and weather patterns. Using this formula, Thomas was able to relatively accurately predict the weather patterns from 1792 until his death (and simultaneous retirement) in 1846. About the only significant change he is known to have made to his format was the addition of the word ‘Old’ in the title in the year 1832. While the word remained in the title for a few years, Thomas inexplicably removed it again in 1836 not to appear again until after his death. Thomas’ followers made little changes to the almanac in subsequent years with the exception of officially incorporating the word ‘Old’ into the title and commissioning cover art for the book created by Hammatt Billings, a Boston artist, both under the direction of Thomas’ immediate successor to the position of editor, John Henry Jenks (Park, 1992). Charles Louis Flint, editor of the almanac beginning in 1861, introduced stronger farming content to the almanac but the next two editors, John Boies Tileston and Loomis Joseph Campbell, made no real changes during their short terms in this position just as no significant changes were made during Robert Ware’s 13 year service as editor from 1877 to 1890 (Farmer’s Almanac, 2009). Horace Everett Ware, taking over the position in 1890 and serving for 19 years in this position, began offering more generalized articles in his book rather than remaining completely focused on the scientific agricultural articles that had been a regular feature of the book. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is rumored to have served a number of purposes other than simply entertaining its readers or providing helpful hints as to when would be the best time to plant. According to Diamond Environmental Services (2008), one of the more common uses for the book was perhaps not what one might expect. “What did people use before toilet paper? Well, just use your imagination … The Farmer’s Almanac had a hole in it so it could be hung on a hook and the pages torn off easily” (Diamond Environmental Services, 2008). It has already been mentioned that some of the articles included in the almanac were intended to provide entertainment to its readers as well as useful information. There are also rumors that Abraham Lincoln, prior to his being elected president, might have used the almanac as proof against an eyewitness. According to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (2007), the case was that of William ‘Duff’ Armstrong who had been accused of murder in Beardstown. The eyewitness, Mr. Charles Allen, claimed he had seen the whole thing clearly by the light of a full moon on August 29, 1857, but Lincoln, using an almanac, proved that the moon on the night in question was only in the first quarter and was riding low on the horizon, not big enough to provide the kind of light that would have been necessary to witness the crime. Thus, while the almanac saw some somewhat unintended use, it was always available for innovative approaches. During the 1900s, the almanac has seen a number of changes but has continued to be published. It has already been mentioned how the early 1900s saw a slight change in content as Horace Ware introduced more mainstream material as a means of appealing to a more generalized audience. In spite of this step, the almanac decreased in popularity during the Great War and the Depression era, eventually coming into the hands of Roger Scaife as editor in 1936. The most evident change Scaife introduced to the almanac was to remove the weather forecasts in order to add material about temperature and precipitation averages (Sagendorph, 1965). Following this near-disastrous attempt at adjusting the format, Scaife lost the publishing rights to the almanac to Sagendorph in 1939. Sagendorph wisely returned the content and style back to the content and style of Thomas’ creation and thus rebuilt the readership. During the Second World War, the content was modified once more in response to concerns of national defense after the almanac was discovered in the pocket of a German spy (Park, 1992). As technology advanced and new prediction data was made available, the almanac has necessarily changed with the times. Today, the almanac is still published in Dublin, New Hampshire and is under the leadership of its 13th editor, Janice Stillman (Farmer’s Almanac, 2009). The predictions they make are still respectful of Thomas’ early formulas, but now incorporate the information available to us through satellite data and greater knowledge of the solar system. “The state of long term climate prediction is a difficult one for meteorology but basically what we do is look at long term pressure patterns, long terms global wind patterns, and patterns in sea surface temperatures and attempt to draw some conclusions” (Meteorologist Justin Culligan cited in “Farmer’s Almanac 2009”, 2008). Many people continue to look to the almanac for accurate weather predictions into the future, considering it to be highly accurate. They seem to be justified when looking back over the past season in which the almanac predicted heavy snows and rain while the National Weather Service predicted a mild winter (“Farmer’s Almanac 2009”, 2008). However, a careful look at the situation indicates both predictions were true – a relatively mild winter was followed by a very rainy and snowy spring. The almanac claims it is correct 80 percent of the time while also disclaiming that “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” (Farmer’s Almanac, 2009). Ed O’Lenic claimed on Online NewsHour that the almanac was only about two percent more accurate than people randomly guessing what they think (MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, 1996). But perhaps it is Pennsyvania State University that has the best assessment, indicating that the almanac’s predictions are too vague to make any reasonable judgment regarding whether they are accurate or not (Conroy, 2007) thus justifying Channel 12 News’ labeling it the “Crystal Ball of forecasting” (“Farmer’s Almanac 2009”, 2008). The Old Farmer’s Almanac provides, in its pages and its recent launch online, a link to our past in a way that is unequaled anywhere else. Having started as an aid to citizens who lived in close contact with the weather, which had the capacity to include everyone, the almanac continues to provide people with their assessment of upcoming weather conditions as well as a means to discover new recipes, entertaining stories or a bit of history or myth regarding the area. In its changing use, from privy reading and cleaning material to today perhaps being used for a variety of things other than mere reading material, the almanac demonstrates the resilience of change as well as the value of staying the same. Works Cited Diamond Environmental Services. “When was Toilet Paper Invented?” (2008). April 19, 2009 Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. “The Papers of Abraham Lincoln.” (2007). April 19, 2009 Old Farmer’s Almanac. Janice Stillman (Ed.). (2009). April 19, 2009 Park, Edwards. “Weathering Every Season with one Canny Compendium.” The Smithsonian Magazine. (November 1992): 91. Pierce, John. “Strange Weather and What it Means.” Talk of the Nation. National Public Radio, (September 14, 2000). April 19, 2009 Sagendorph, Robb. “My Life with the Old Farmer’s Almanac.” The American Legion Magazine. (January 1965). April 19, 2009 “Farmer’s Almanac 2009.” 12 Action News. (September 12, 2008). April 19, 2009 Read More