Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-29
QUAINT OLD ALMANAC
As Popular Now as When First
Published.
AMERICAN PRESS PRODUCTS
Holds Its Own With Art Calendars
in the Country.
"POOR RICHARDS ALMANACK"
Six and Half Millions Of One Va
riety Distributed Annually
by One Firm.
AMERICAN PRESS PRODUCTS
"Po0R RICHARDS ALMANACK''


lea, and from its popularity again this
year is apparently destined to an equally
long career.
Excepting only the Bible itself. the alma
nae is the oldest book published in the new
world, and In the POT years that have in
tervened since William Bradford turned out
the first almanac 1t has had a bigger cir
culation than any publication barring only
the holy writ.
In the long list Of illustrious editors who
have devoted their abilities to preparing the
little pamphlets with the days of the year.
weather observations, advice on cooking.
care of the farm animals and million and
one recipes and hints for domestic use. the
great name Of Benjamin Franklin looms up.
and no little part of the philosophers fame
came from his association with Poor Rich
ards Almanack.'
One might expect almanacs to show de-
creaslng circulation in these days Of art
calendars It would appear that the legion
of these together with the magazines not
in existence half a century ago, would take
| the place of the booklets that once formed
the literature as well as the font or all Wis
dom in thousands Of homes.
| But statistics of the printing press do not
show any such decrease. On the contrary,
the almanac holds its own, and even gains
in popularity with the increase of the ma
tional population.
Home Of Almanac.
Inhabitants Of the big cities in which the
almanacs are prepared have little idea Of
| the extent of their circulation, for the rea-
| son that they go principally to rural dis
| tricts Thus in one city, Philadelphia, the
home Of the almanac in this country, seven
million have been printed and distributed
this year.
In the big cities only has the calendar,
now developed into work Of art. taken
| the place of the almanac. The business
man has no time to tumble through the
| leaves of a book to find out what day of
| the month 1t is He puts over his desk one
| of the vari-colored. handsomely printed cal
| endars, so easy to procure. But in the
| country, where things are done in a more
| leisureIy fashion, the almanac Is indispensa-
! BILE. Hung from a convenient nail In the liv-
| ing room. 1t is the arbiter in all disputes.
Such publications as The Housekeepers'
Almanac" 1.-The Comic Almanac" THE
| Farmers Almanac" Uncle Sans Alma
| nae The Agricultural Almanac" are vir-
| tually unknown in the cities. but in the
country they are eagerly waited.
In the Middle West.
Among the German residents Der Bilder-
Kalender" 'Der Farmer Kalender'' and
| "Des Lahrer Hinkenden Boten Neuer Kali
ender are at least known by reputation.
But even these are more widely circulated
in the small towns in the middle West, in
Wisconsin and on the Pacific coast than
they are in big cities. The actual combined
sale of these almanacs this year was 10000
copies
'Des Lahrer Hinkenden Boten" is about
the size of monthly magazine, and Its
contents are valued more for their literary
and pictorial character than for the In
formation presented. There are given, Of
course the calendar for each month, with
the accompanying ephemeris, and such in
fOrma fiOp q DOStal rates. values of foreign
coins, tables of weights and measures, list
of Presidents of the United States and pop
| ulation, etc, of the states. The conjectures
of the weather for each month are still seri-
ously presented, as they were in the first
almanacs and still contain a good percen-
| tage Of lucky hits by frequent use of the
word 'changeable.'
Everything changes but the almanac.
The calendar has developed into a gor-
geous feast Of colors, but the almanac goes
on the same year in and year out, cheaply
newspapers are and illustrated with the
same old wood cuts that have become ia
| mliar to three generations. The maker of
almanacs frowns at innovations. The peo-
pie don't desire their almanac changed any
more than they would want to do away
with furniture of the old homestead that
has become dear through years of associa-
| ton.
Hoary Witticisms.
! AS a sample Of how the almanac holds
| to the time-worn may be mentioned the
| venerable Jest on the cover Of the comic
almanac" This shows the dead year being
| wheeled out on a barrow, while the year
| that Is to come stands by old Father
| Time. who is pushing the barrow. an
nounces to young Mr. New Year that in
| another twelve months he. too. will be
wheeled out in the same way
For forty or fifty years this same old
cover this Anticipated witticism. has done
l~,,k 70 lnca n c
| freshness to subscribers who take the al
manac.
1.-THE Housekeepers' Almanac is essen
| TALLY publication of advice. 1t tells how
to do everything from Kidding the cattle Of
a plague to caring for children.
THE Farmers Almanac" Is filled with
agricultural Information, and Is consulted
| by thousands of prudent tillers of the soil
before crops are either set out or har-
vested
AS rule the almanac is printed in bulk
by some publisher and then sold in smaller
lots to various business concerns. which
add their own imprint and then distribute
the almanac gratis to their customers. This
is not the invariable rule, for many al
manacs are sold at retail. but the custom
of number Of big houses to give them
away has somewhat hurt the retail sale.
More Forms Than Any Book.
One concern alone makers of a famous
proprietary medicine, distributes six and
one-half million copies every year. 1t Is
said that this almanac is put out in more
forms than any book known. 1t Is printed
in English with seven different editions for
various parts of the country:
Northern states. middle states, Raleigh
and Savannah, Pacific California and Ore
eon), British Columbia and Hawaiian
West Indies, Australia and Tasmania In
German there are editions for the northern
states, middle states, southern states and
Pacific states.
Other foreign languages are represented
by Hollandsh almanac, with ephemerfs
and astronomical data for the United
States, Cape of Good Hope and West In
dies; Swedish, for the United States; Nor
wegian and Danish for the United States;
French, for Canada, United States. Mexico
and the West Indies; Mexican. for Cuba
and Mexico; Chilean, for South America;
Bohemian, for the United States and West
Indies; Manila, for the Philippines: Ven
ezuelan, for Venezuela and Colombia. and
Chinese for eastern China. A Welsh al
manac was formerly printed. but has been
discontinued, and Chinese has been added
to the list.
Labor and Expense.
Immense labor and expense are incurred