Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: California State University Dominguez Hills Archives and Special Collections

Title: Farmer's Almanac Collection

creator: Artists and Writers Guild

Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2018.041

Physical Description: 3 boxes

Physical Description: 1.04 Linear Feet

Date (inclusive): 1811-1960

Language of Material: Collection material is in English.

Abstract: The Farmer's Almanac collection contains almanacs from the dates 1811 to 1960 with information regarding astronomy, weather, farming advice, law information, poetry, gardening tips, and periodicals. Between the years 1847 and 1848 the title of the almanacs changed from "The Farmer's Almanac" to "The Old Farmer's Almanac." Each almanac in the collection is weathered with age and fragile.

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

[title of item] Farmer's Almanac Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills

The Farmer's Almanac collection (1811-1960) contains 137 almanacs each with information on astronomy, weather, farming advice, law information, gardening tips, and periodicals, although this varied depending on the years published.

The history of the Farmer's Almanacs began with the publication of its first issue in 1792 under its first editor, Robert B. Thomas. While this was released during a time where numerous almanacs were published, Thomas's almanac was the most successful. Thomas's last edition he worked on was in 1846, having passed away in 1847. John H. Jenks became the official editor in 1848 and added "Old" in the title of the newer editions. He also changed the cover, which has since remained the cover of the almanac. The next editor in 1861, Charles L. Flint, focused heavily on farming while the next two editors, John Boies Tileston and Loomis Joseph Campbell, did little to change the format. In 1877, Robert Ware focused more heavily on publishing about business and in 1900 Horace Ware began to publish the almanac for a more general audience. The next two editors, Frank Newton and Carroll Swa, made sure that the almanac was published yearly. In 1936, Roger Scaife became editor and had taken out the weather forecasts in favor of temperature and precipitation averages. In response to an angry public, he then reinstated the weather forecasts. In 1939, Robb Sagendorph became editor and had the alamac harken back to its original format under Robert B. Thomas. In 1942, a German U-boat spy was found with a copy of the almanac, allgedlly due to the accuracy of the weather forecasts. Sagendorph was able to persuade the government to allow the continued publication of the almanac due to "weather predictions" being changed to "weather indications." After Sagendorph's death in 1970, Judson Hale became editor. Janice Stillman became the first female editor in 2000 and continues to keep with tradition while also keeping the content fresh and interesting.