Original "Old Farmers Almanac", dated 1866

Original "Old Farmers Almanac", dated 1866. Click picture and "Detailed Description".

This is an original Farmer’s Almanac from 1866. It measures 5 ¼” x 8 ¼” and has about 50 pages. The Old Farmer's Almanacs were reference books that contained weather forecasts, tide tables, planting charts, advertisements and recipes. The almanac has been published continuously since 1792, making it the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. It was founded by Robert B. Thomas as the Farmer's Almanac and then the Old Farmer's Almanac in 1832. It was billed as the "Purveyor of Useful and Entertaining Information Since 1792". In addition to weather forecasts, readers would also find a significant amount of information about gardening, astronomy (rise and set of the moon, sun and other heavenly bodies) as well as information about times for high- and low-tide at specific coastal areas and amusing and interesting stories and facts on a variety of topics. These soft cover magazines were made with thin paper, so the survival rate wasn’t too good. However, although this one is worn from age, it does remain complete and intact.