coll. - The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2017: Special Anniversary Edition

Established in 1792 and published every year thereafter

ROBERT B. THOMAS, founder (17661846)

YANKEE PUBLISHING INC.

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES

P.O. Box 520, 1121 Main Street, Dublin, NH 03444

Phone: 603-563-8111 Fax: 603-563-8252

PUBLISHER (23rd since 1792): Sherin Pierce

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Judson D. Hale Sr.

EDITOR (13th since 1792): Janice Stillman

ART DIRECTOR: Colleen Quinnell

MANAGING EDITOR: Jack Burnett

SENIOR RESEARCH EDITOR: Mare-Anne Jarvela

SENIOR EDITORS: Sarah Perreault, Heidi Stonehill

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE: Tim Clark

WEATHER GRAPHICS AND CONSULTATION:

AccuWeather, Inc.

V.P., NEW MEDIA AND PRODUCTION:

Paul Belliveau

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS:

Susan Gross, David Ziarnowski

SENIOR PRODUCTION ARTISTS:

Rachel Kipka, Jennifer Freeman

WEB SITE: ALMANAC.COM

DIGITAL EDITOR: Catherine Boeckmann

NEW MEDIA DESIGNERS: Lou S. Eastman, Amy OBrien

E-COMMERCE MANAGER: Alan Henning

PROGRAMMING: Peter Rukavina

CONTACT US

We welcome your questions and comments about articles in and topics for this Almanac. Mail all editorial correspondence to Editor, The Old Farmers Almanac, P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444-0520; fax us at 603-563-8252; or contact us through Almanac.com/Feedback. The Old Farmers Almanac can not accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and will not acknowledge any hard-copy queries or manuscripts that do not include a stamped and addressed return envelope.

All printing inks used in this edition of The Old Farmers Almanac are soy-based. This product is recyclable. Consult local recycling regulations for the right way to do it.

Thank you for buying this Almanac! We hope that you find it useful, with a pleasant degree of humor. Thanks, too, to everyone who had a hand in it, including advertisers, distributors, printers, and sales and delivery people.

No part of this Almanac may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other) without written permission of the publisher.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Quinn/Brein 206-842-8922

CONSUMER MAIL ORDERS

Call 800-ALMANAC (800-256-2622)

or go to Almanac.com/Shop

CONSUMER MARKETING MANAGER:

Kate McPherson 800-895-9265, ext. 188

RETAIL SALES

Stacey Korpi, 800-895-9265, ext. 160

Janice Edson, ext. 126

DISTRIBUTORS

NATIONAL: Curtis Circulation Company

New Milford, NJ

BOOKSTORE: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Boston, MA

The Old Farmers Almanac publications are available for sales promotions or premiums. Contact Beacon Promotions, .

YANKEE PUBLISHING INCORPORATED

Jamie Trowbridge, President; Judson D. Hale Sr., Senior Vice President; Paul Belliveau, Jody Bugbee, Judson D. Hale Jr., Brook Holmberg, Sherin Pierce, Vice Presidents.

The Old Farmers Almanac/Yankee Publishing Inc. assumes no responsibility for claims made by advertisers or failure by its advertisers to deliver any goods or services advertised herein. Publication of any advertisement by The Old Farmers Almanac/Yankee Publishing Inc. is not an endorsement of the product or service advertised therein.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Bob Berman, our astronomy editor, is the director of Overlook Observatory in Woodstock and Storm King Observatory in Cornwall, both in New York. In 1976, he founded the Catskill Astronomical Society. Bob has led many aurora and eclipse expeditions, venturing as far as the Arctic and Antarctic.

Tim Clark, a retired high school English teacher from New Hampshire, wrote the Farmers Calendar essays that appear in this edition. His recordings of them are available free at since 1980.

Bethany E. Cobb, our astronomer, earned a Ph.D. in astronomy at Yale University and is an Assistant Professor of Honors and Physics at George Washington University. She also conducts research on gamma-ray bursts and follows numerous astronomy pursuits, including teaching astronomy to adults at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UC Berkeley. When she is not scanning the sky, she enjoys playing the violin, figure skating, and reading science fiction.

Celeste Longacre, our astrologer, often refers to astrology as a study of timing, and timing is everything. A New Hampshire native, she has been a practicing astrologer for more than 25 years. Her book, Celestes Garden Delights (2015), is available for sale on her Web site, www.celestelongacre.com.

Michael Steinberg, our meteorologist, has been forecasting weather for the Almanac since 1996. In addition to college degrees in atmospheric science and meteorology, he brings a lifetime of experience to the task: He began predicting weather when he attended the only high school in the world with weather Teletypes and radar.

With this edition, your modest annual, often described as Americas most popular reference, celebrates its quasquibicentennial anniversary. No small word for no small achievement: The term means a quarter [century] more than 200 years and refers to this Almanacs 225 years of continuous publicationa record unmatched by any other periodical in North America.Well in advance of this auspicious occasion, we began planning ways to make this edition special. These talks evolved into the package in your hands.

Like a gift, it comes wrappedthis year, with a new cover. Well, not new. Be assured, we would never change the cover, but did you notice the brighter, crisper seasonal depictions? The lifelike portraits of Benjamin Franklin and this Almanacs founder, Robert B. Thomas? The delicate lines in the fruit of the harvest and the filigree of the frame? Illustrator Steven Noble has updated our look by harkening back to our earliest designs.

A close eye will also discern the polished type. Sam Berlow of The Font Bureau designed our custom font. Ben Scott and Lainey Fink of Bluerock Design created our new logo, which evokes the Almanacs heritage and tradition yet sets it squarely in the 21st century.

Youll also see a new style of weather forecast pages. We think that youll find them at least 80 percent more attractive than the traditionally 80 percentaccurate forecasts they represent. If youre wondering: Not a single snowflake or sunny day was sacrificed.

Our anniversary is the centerpiece of this edition, and it echoes throughout. First, we salute Mr. Thomas. His colorful life story, in his own words, appears here (for the first time since 1833), with select reproduced pages from the first edition: Frontispiece, Preface, recipes for ailments (do not try these at home!), and . (Oh, and dont get ftreffed out over those fs that appear where the letter s would normally fall. The long-s was commonplace back in the old days.)

The preceding 224 editions of this column, plus a few legendary incidents, inspired the article titled 225 Years of Love, Luck, and Traditionan entertaining chronicle of the stunning events, stirring predictions, and profound observations that have occurred over the years and been recorded on these pages.

Happy 225th, Mr. Thomas, and thank you for your wonderful Almanac. Be it ever and always as you set forth: useful, with a pleasant degree of humor!