How The Old Farmer’s Almanac Previewed the Information Age

Before the Internet—and I mean long, long, long before the Internet—an almanac was a radical, high-tech object.

It must have seemed, to the people of the 1792, when The Farmer’s Almanac was founded, something like what a smartphone is to people today: a handheld, portable device that contained information about all manner of things—health advice, weather predictions, jokes, recipes, charts detailing the times of sunrises and sunsets, and other “new, useful, and entertaining” tidbits, as the cover promised.

The Farmer’s Almanac—“old” wouldn't be added to its name until sometime in the early 1800s—joined a crowded market of similar almanacs at a time when the format offered an unprecedented kind of access to information, folklore, and reference material. Ben Franklin has been on the cover of The Old Farmer’s Almanac for generations, a nod to Franklin’s publication, Poor Richard's Almanack, which came first. There are still other farmer’s almanacs in print, like Harris’ Farmer’s Almanac, for example. But The Old Farmer’s Almanac bills itself as the original by today’s standards—and the oldest continuously published periodical in the United States. When the first issue came out, George Washington was president.

“What most people had in their homes for reading material at the time was a Farmer’s Almanac and a Bible," said Janice Stillman, who has been the editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac since 2000, “And only one of those took ads, by the way.”

The publication’s popularity in its youth is perhaps unsurprising, even in a crowded market for almanacs. What’s more remarkable is that The Old Farmer’s Almanac has stayed in print for more than two centuries. “The values are, you might say, old,” Stillman told me, “but they’re also timeless.”

The founder of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Robert B. Thomas, used a forecasting technique based on a theory that Galileo developed in the 17th century. “The idea that sunspots, on cycles of 11 years on average, influenced the climate and weather on Earth,” Stillman told me. “Robert B. Thomas made his forecast based on that.”

The Almanac still incorporates sunspot data into its forecasting model today. “There are patterns that suggest that when the sun is quiet, the weather on earth is cooler than usual,” Stillman said. Modern science hasn’t ruled out this connection.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac has long had a reputation for getting the forecast right, and doing so on an outlandish timescale. In the 1930s and 1940s, people would write to the Almanac to ask about weather conditions for specific days, months in advance. Brides wanted sunshine for their wedding days; rabbis would ask for the exact time of sunset in a certain city, so they could plan the lighting of altar candles. The Almanac was known then, as it is now, for being “New Englandish as a stone wall... [and] just as durable,” wrote The New York Times in a 1947.

Source: The Atlantic

What is Florida Forever?

Florida Forever stands as Florida's leading program for acquiring conservation and recreation lands, serving as a model for preserving the state's natural and cultural heritage. Explore the highlights of this initiative through the "Our Lands. Our Legacy" Story Map.

Replacing the Preservation 2000 (P2000) program, Florida Forever is among the largest public land acquisition efforts in the U.S. With about 10 million acres managed for conservation in Florida, over 2.6 million acres have been acquired through both Florida Forever and P2000.

Since its launch in July 2001, the Florida Forever program has purchased more than 907,412 acres of land, investing approximately $3.3 billion.

Source: Florida Forever

31st Annual 4th of July Celebration

Thursday, July 4th

11AM-10PM

Harpoon Harry's and Fisherman's Village

Click here for more info!

"Some insight for Florida July 2024 from the Old Farmer's Almanac"

History:

July is named after Roman dictator Julius Caesar (100 B.C.–44 B.C.). Caesar developed the precursor to the Gregorian calendar we use today. Interestingly, July seems to be the month dedicated to freedom, independence, and celebrations of country and culture.

Weather:

Summer temperatures, on average, will be hotter than normal from New England through the Atlantic Corridor, in Florida and the Deep South, through Texas and the Midwest, and on to California. In terms of rainfall, much of the country has normal to below-normal rainfall, especially in New England and the Midwest. However, the West Coast, Texas, and the Atlantic Corridor will see normal to above-normal rainfall.

Astrology:

July 5 is the time of aphelion when Earth is the farthest it will get from the Sun for the entire year—specifically, we’ll be 94,506,364 miles away from our bright star!