American Almanacs: A Living History

Watching this two part series, with a “bonus” program of Victorian cures, recipes, and helpful hints, is a bit of an exercise in diminishing returns. Part 1 (42 min.) traces the almanac tradition back to the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Mayans, and Aztecs, with their careful calendar systems and early written records. Combining commentary from almanac editors, authors, and academics, with beautiful nature footage and photos from old almanacs, the program includes fascinating tidbits about titans in the field, such as Benjamin Franklin, whose political career took off only after he wrote Poor Richard's Almanac under the pseudonym of Richard Saunders, and Benjamin Banneker, an African-American whose late-18th century almanac was a huge success, and who petitioned Thomas Jefferson to free the slaves. Viewers will also learn that the farmer's almanac, which now seems nostalgic and quaint, was once a literally revolutionary publication, in which editors encouraged independent thinking and revolt against the British. At their height in the 19th century, there were 500 competing almanacs, some specializing in humor, others in religion, medicine, or recipes. Part 2 (47 min.), by contrast, is rather tedious in its lengthy (and dubious) exploration of lunar and sunspot cycles and their possible effects on plants and weather. Oddly combining dated farm film footage from the 1950s with questionable science (verging on pseudoscience), the documentary does not adequately address the questions it raises about the accuracy of long-term forecasting or whether the waxing moon is really the best time to dig fence posts and plant watermelons. Finally, the bonus section features entertaining old recipes for curing toothache, earache, and the like, but they are presented by a non-actress descendant annoyingly over-playing Martha Matilda, author of the venerable Keeping Hearth and Home. Overall, this is still a great buy for the price. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Pendergrast)