Who started the Almanac?
Who started The Old Farmer’s Almanac in 1792? What was one of the greatest of all Almanac blunders? Who writes the Almanac today? Here’s a short history of America’s best-selling periodical—with a history is as rich and diverse as the Almanac itself.
How the Almanac Got Off to a Good Start
Under the guiding hand of its first editor, Robert B. Thomas, the premiere issue of The Old Farmer’s Almanac was published in 1792 during George Washington’s first term as president. Although many other almanacs were being published at that time, Thomas’s upstart almanac became an immediate success. In fact, by the second year, circulation had tripled from 3,000 to 9,000. Back then, the Almanac cost only six pence (about nine cents).
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The 1793 (Old) Farmer’s Almanac, published in 1792.
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. So what made The Old Farmer’s Almanac different from the others? Since his format wasn’t novel, we can only surmise that Thomas’s astronomical and weather predictions were more accurate, the advice more useful, and the features more entertaining.
Based on his observations, Thomas used a complex series of natural cycles to devise a secret weather forecasting formula, which brought uncannily accurate results, traditionally said to be 80 percent accurate.
Thomas’s last edition, in 1846, was not much different from his first, over 50 years earlier. However, in that time he established The Old Farmer’s Almanac as America’s leading periodical by outselling and outlasting the competition. He died in 1846 at the age of 80, supposedly reading page proofs for the 1847 edition.
The Almanac Hits Its Stride
The new editor, John H. Jenks, was helped by the fact that Thomas had already calculated the astronomical material for several future editions. In 1848 Jenks permanently and officially added the Old to the title of the Almanac. It had been previously known as The Farmer’s Almanac, except in 1832 when Thomas had inserted the word Old (but he inexplicably dropped it from the title three years later).
Jenks’s next change came in 1851, when he featured a four seasons drawing on the cover by artist Henry Nichols. This drawing has been on the cover of every edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac ever since.
In 1861, Charles L. Flint became editor and provided his readers with a heavy emphasis on farming. The next two editors, John Boies Tileston and Loomis Joseph Campbell, served short terms and did little more than keep the Almanac going in the traditional format.
Robert Ware took over as sixth editor in 1877, but his main interest was the publishing business, and he probably delegated many of the editorial tasks. Ware’s brother, Horace, took the reins in 1900. During his 19 years as editor, he began to orient the book toward a more general audience by replacing the scientific agriculture articles with general features on nature and modern life.
The eighth and ninth editors, Frank Newton and Carroll Swan, kept the Almanac tradition alive even during times of war and the Depression. (Even to this date, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has never missed a single year of publication.)
Greatest of All Almanac Blunders
Roger Scaife was appointed editor in 1936. His term coincided with the only time in the history of the Almanac that it declined precipitously in circulation and financial stability. (The 1938 edition had a circulation of only 88,000, compared with 225,000 in 1863!) Scaife also committed the greatest of all Almanac blunders: He dropped the weather forecasts! In their place, he substituted temperature and precipitation averages. The public outcry was so great that he reinstated the forecasts in the next year’s edition, but it was too late to save his reputation.
Robb Sagendorph Leads the Almanac
Robb Sagendorph knew a good deal when he saw one, and in 1939 he bought The Old Farmer’s Almanac and became editor. Sagendorph, who had moved his family to tiny Dublin, New Hampshire, four years earlier to start Yankee Magazine, now held the future of the Almanac in his hands. Luckily, he had a strong grip, a keen sense of the publishing business, and a nurturing heart devoted to tradition.
Sagendorph, feeling that tradition was the Almanac’s strongest suit, immediately reestablished its format and editorial style to be more as it was under Robert B. Thomas. As a result, The Old Farmer’s Almanac became witty, wise, and more entertaining, as it had been a hundred years earlier.
In 1942, a German spy was apprehended by the FBI after being landed on Long Island, New York, by a U-boat the night before. The impact of this event was felt all the way to Dublin, New Hampshire, because The Old Farmer’s Almanac was found in his coat pocket. The U.S. government speculated that the Germans were using the Almanac for weather forecasts, which meant that the book was indirectly supplying information to the enemy.
Fortunately, Sagendorph managed to get the government to agree that there would be no violation of the “Code of Wartime Practices for the American Press” if the Almanac featured weather indications rather than forecasts. It was a close call that almost ruined the Almanac’s perfect record of continuous publication.
The story since World War II has been one of growth and expanded range. The Almanac passed the four million circulation mark in the early 1990s. Robb Sagendorph died in 1970, after 30 years as editor, and his nephew, Judson Hale, took over.
In 2000, Janice Stillman became the 13th (and first female) editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. She maintained the style established by her predecessors, the editorial direction taken by Hale, and a true dedication to hundreds of years of tradition while striving continuously to appear brand-spanking-new. Under Stillman’s stewardship, The Old Farmer’s Almanac moved firmly into the digital age: Almanac.com has 84 million unique visitors, reaching 1 in every 6 Americans, and 1 in 5 Canadians, online.
In 2023, The Old Farmer’s Almanac named Carol Connare its 14th editor. She carries on the legacy of the venerable publication with a mission to introduce the next generation of farmers and gardeners to the humor and wisdom of the Almanac.
Learn more about the Almanac’s origins, history, and odd moments along its path to North America’s most popular reference book! Watch The Old Farmer’s Almanac Documentary Video!
The Newest Edition of the Almanac
Don’t forget! Pick up your copy of The Old Farmer’s Almanac in our web store, on Amazon, or in retail stores wherever books and magazines are sold!
Carol Connare
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Can you explain the hole punch upper left corner? Was it really to hang in outhouse? Does hole punch authenticate a copy's authentic?
It really was to hang in the outhouse (or the kitchen!). Check out this page to get the “hole” story.
A hole punch (or lack thereof) does not mark the Almanac as authentic, however. We currently sell two versions, the traditional version with the hole and an extended version without a hole.
Why does the almanac cost less for Brits after taking Pound/Dollar conversions and even taking market value fluctuations? Seems like a swift kick in the nether realm when an American company that has been around for over 200 years is giving another country a better deal on their products.
We’re not clear what you mean. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is only sold in the United States and Canada, not in the U.K. We only cover those weather regions and gardening zones. Perhaps you could buy the Almanac on Amazon or with a third-party vendor but we do not have control over their costs.
I got a 1904 edition of George Kittredge's The Old Farmer and His Almanack signed "With compliments" by Horace B Ware. He was the editor of the Farmer's Almanack at that time. Was he interviewed by Kittredge? And were they friends? Thanks
Hello, I'm an American living in Germany, writing a very detail driven 'City Slicker' western taking place in 1881-2. Living here makes it much more difficult to do research.
A Lady, Mrs. Alvord, of the then '1879-83' famous Alvord House Hotel in Denver, (You can see a picture of it in Denver Library's digital section; for a couple of years the best hotel in Denver.) gets her part of the book. I get to throw in the Erie Canal and paddle wheel boats on the Great Lakes. Even get to mention the Ohio Canal. I even have Opera in this western.
Her family the Algers had been in the Salt business of Salina, NY, later incorporated into Syracuse along with the Alvords. Her husband was a farming Alvord. They move to Caldwell, Mo, in 1845, with enough money to set up with prosperous farmers.
I "need" to find out if your Almanac covered Missouri in '45-49. (I do of course have one of your reproduction almanac's. I'd have to dig through my library to find it, but it is a much later date I think.)
She later becomes a '49er, marches back across the country to the east in '58. Then marches to Colorado in '60. Which trumps my Heroine's 90-mile-long Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead) on the Chihuahua trail.
She is one of two pioneer women I cover in the book, the other is Mrs. Augusta Tabor, or the Baby Doe, triangle. I am a fan of Augusta; not of the gold digger.
The 'new' genealogical US Census has been the greatest help, to give me ages, families, and even in the 1850-60 ones how well off the families were.
Denver's City directories gives me the boot maker, and where he lives (and from where he lives how how energetic he was from where he lives over the next decade.) and any one else in town.
Sanborn maps gives me the amount of stories a building had, what a building was made of and how it was shingled. Fashion is of course covered, as is the long wearying death of President Garfield. He could write in Latin and Greek simultaneously. The last of our Log Cabin Presidents.
It appears I've Michenerized this set of three books, without expecting too.
In today's world of blogs, one must be as humanly accurate as possible, or some one will scream I didn't do my research; don't buy that book.
Such as I had to change a 17 Jeweled pocket watch to a 15 jeweled one, in my watch was two years too soon.
So even if the Farmer's Almanac didn't cover Missouri, it would have still been used. However if it did cover the then West of Missouri, Iowa; the three or four words saying so, would 'help' me.
I took the time to learn so much of the 1840-80 potatoes, I now know what an 'Early' is and which were best then; so does my heroine.
Thank you for any help you can give me.
Perhaps that Lady with the 1840, 1853, 1855 Almanac's could be contacted?
Bill Cameron
Bill,
I have tried to find a finished book fitting your description. I was wondering do you have it close to completion and could I obtain a copy. I am intrigued at the details I feel it will possess.
Thank you, David Blakley
Hi, Bill, Sorry to say that The Old Farmer’s Almanac did not “cover” Missouri during the period in question. It may, as you suggest, have been read by someone in that area at that time, but circulation/distribution being what it was at that time (scant: usually by peddlers and itinerant salespeople), it was not purposefully sold there. Its content covered/addressed the northeast US at that time. National distribution and content was introduced in the mid-1900s. Good luck with your book!
|I am sure they exist somewhere. I am writing a novel about 1926 and looking for a Farmer's Almanac from that year. Could you please suggest how I could find one?
Hi, Grace: The first place to start is your local library, to see if perhaps they can borrow one on interlibrary loan from your state library or perhaps a university (particularly of the ag type) in your state. You can also find 1926 almanacs (although not ours at this particular time) on Ebay.com. When searching anywhere, remember to search both for “Farmer’s” (like ours) and “Farmers’ ” to get all options. Good luck with your novel—we’ll look forward to reading it!
