1848 ‘Prindle’s Almanac’

Given To Historical Society

By Dottie Evans

“You never know what the next day will bring!”

Words to live by for Newtown Historical Society Accessions Chairman Faith Gulick, who views every mail delivery and every phone call with a sense of anticipation.

As owner of a longtime Sandy Hook antiques business, Ms Gulick is always interested in hearing about “some new old stuff” like documents, curiosities, or antiquities that might be on the way home to Newtown.

After being examined and cataloged, the objects will be entered by Ms Gulick into the permanent collection of the Newtown Historical Society, subsequently to be displayed at the society’s 1750 Main Street colonial residence and museum known as the Matthew Curtiss House.

If a donated item is very fragile, such as the recently donated 1848 copy of Prindle’s Almanac, it might gain a spot in the museum’s glass display cases.

The beaten and weathered almanac, measuring four by seven inches, is one of the latest gifts to the society. It was sent to Ms Gulick by an individual who once lived in town and found it among some old family papers. The donor wished to remain anonymous, but wrote the following comments in an enclosed note.

“I’ve been meaning to send this little book to you for a long time. I came from Newtown and it will always be in my heart. This is a way I can send some of my love. When I drive by the Matthew Curtiss House, I know that I’ve helped put something of value in there that will be saved for the future.”

Ms Gulick said these sentiments are often what motivates people, and it is in this spirit that so many of the museum’s gifts have been given.

“No matter the circumstances, we are grateful to have these old treasures in our keeping.”

For more than three centuries, almanacs of all types have played an important role in the daily lives of rural and suburban Americans. Our familiar Old Farmer’s Almanac by Robert B. Thomas published by Yankee Publishing, Inc, was first introduced in 1792, but the longstanding American almanac tradition was first established in the 17th Century. Farmers, settlers, and peddlers carried their almanacs with them as the frontier moved west.

Eventually almost every family owned an almanac. Before 1900, the little booklets might have been the only place a large segment of the population could gain access to such practical knowledge as medical advice, household hints, farming and planting data, a full accounting of sunrises and sunsets, the timing of eclipses, meteor showers, and tides, and a discussion of zodiac secrets as they were related to bodily functions. Almanacs provided all manner of “new, useful, and entertaining matter,” as Robert Thomas writes.

Almanacs were also for fun. They provided information about spelling, history, and even child-rearing. There were jokes, puzzles, and homilies, and “up-to-date” information about postal rates, railroad and stagecoach schedules. Listings of weights and measures were included.

The very first American almanac was published in 1639, and in 1728, James Franklin printed The Rhode Island Almanac. Four years later, his brother Benjamin Franklin brought out his now-legendary Poor Richard’s Almanac. It was a bestseller for 25 years.

Prindle’s 1848: A Classic Of Its Kind

During the 19th Century, almanacs were published regionally and used as vehicles for advertising. Charles Prindle’s 1848 almanac was published in Bridgeport by Sanford & Cornwall, Booksellers and Stationers. The 36-page Prindle’s Almanac is small enough to fit into a hip pocket, and its hand-stitched cover has been softened by much thumbing. Inside, one finds information about the “Rising, Setting, and Southing of the Planets,” as well as each day’s time of sunrise and sunset.

Also listed are the exact dates of the 1848 “Moveable Feasts” as observed during the church calendar year. Such sacred and religious celebrations as Quinquagesima Sunday and Ash Wednesday are included, with no mention of secular occasions like Thanksgiving or Mother’s Day.

The reader is also privy to important data about the conjunction of the planets and the best time to graft fruit trees, plant potatoes, or bring in the pumpkins before the frost gets them. And then there are the perennial weather forecasts, so that we might know about snowstorms or rain interfering with a sleigh ride to grandma’s house.

As a recent Old Farmer’s Almanac editor once commented, “concerning long-term trends, we are usually right 80 percent of the time.

“But tomorrow’s weather is something else. We hope for 50 percent accuracy.”

(Information from Old American Almanacs by Roy Nuhn was used for this story.)