Cincinnati Occasional Papers in German-American Studies
No. 10

German-American Almanacs,
A Window on German-American Life:
Exhibit Catalog
By Don Heinrich Tolzmann

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Introduction

In 1731, the first German-American almanac was published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it became one of the central books in the German-American family.  At the same time, Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack was gaining popularity with Anglo-Americans. In a pre-Information Age, an almanac provided a guide to every-day life, but they continue to be published up to the present time, and reflect in appearance and content their eighteenth- and nineteenth-century forerunners.

According to Robert E. Cazden, German-American almanacs were usually printed in a small quarto format, and “the front cover was often decorated with a large woodcut, frequently an allegorical figure or scene symbolic of American agriculture, commerce, or industry.” The rear cover usually had a multiplication table, or other kinds of information, and inside there “were astronomical and astrological tables, the rising and setting of sun and moon, the time of the tides, weather forecasts, lists of roads and distances, schedules of court sessions, perhaps tables of historical dates, and a wide assortment of practical hints and advice for man and beast.”  All of this, Cazden observes, was “interlarded with stories, anecdotes, and articles of general interest. Later in the nineteenth century, children, farmers, and workers were addressed directly by almanac makers. Also popular were the comic, the illustrated, and the medical almanac, this last a vehicle for patent medicine advertisements.” 1

The first German-American almanac to appear in the Ohio Valley was printed in Cincinnati: Teutscher Calendar auf 1808, and many were published and marketed in the Greater Cincinnati area, which became one of the major German-American press centers along with St. Louis and Milwaukee. Often overlooked as ephemera and not collected by libraries, almanacs are a valuable source of information providing insight into German-American family life. 2

Don Yoder notes that the basic framework for understanding time was the calendar year “with customs assigned to specific days and seasons, either agricultural, with the progression through the seasons, and the work and customs associated with each period, or ecclesiastical, marking the religious year as it proceeds from festival to festival.”3  Not surprisingly, the almanac became a basic guidebook throughout the year for the German-American household, and one of the best selections of them can be found in the German-Americana Collection at the University of Cincinnati. 4

Catalog

	1. An 1857 Pennsylvania German almanac printed and published by Johann Bär & Sons of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, followed the basic format and appearance of the almanacs first published by Christoph Saur, the well-known German-American printer of Germantown, Pennsylvania, in the eighteenth century.
	2. Volume 77 of the Pennsylvania German almanac, printed and published by Johann Bär’s Sons, bears almost exactly the same design as its predecessors, a visible demonstration of its popularity, which also served as its trademark
	3. German-Americans often wrote notes, analogous to diary entries, in their calendars. This 1912 almanac indicates that its owner “Started cutting oats at home, July 24 to 26 a.m.”  Such notes demonstrate how important almanacs were in the daily life of their owners, as was the fact that they were saved by families much like diaries were.
	4. In the late nineteenth century, German-American almanacs were issued in English, especially for the purpose of reaching as wide a market as possible. They, therefore, were intended for circulation among German-Americans, as well as non-German-Americans.
	5. Due to their popularity, religious denominations published almanacs for their members, with this one being an example of the 1922 edition published by the German Evangelical Synod of North America’s Eden Publishing Co., St. Louis.
	6. The Abendschule, published by Louis Lange of St. Louis, was a popular and well-illustrated almanac aimed at German-American Lutherans.
	7. A 1936 edition of a German Catholic almanac that was well illustrated and designed for the German Catholic home.
	8. Some almanacs were published by medical firms, and carried the usual almanac information, but also plenty of advertisements for their own products. This one was published and distributed gratis by Dr. D. Jayne and Son.
	9. Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co. published almanacs advertising the firm’s various products, such as Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, which is depicted on the cover, and is noted for its exceptional medicinal qualities.
	10. Pautsch & Kline, general merchandisers in Centreport, Pennsylvania, published almanacs, with this one having been printed at Reading, Pennsylvania, as the best vehicle for advertising its stock of goods.
	11. The Pionier, an almanac filled with art deco style illustrations, was published in New York by the New Yorker Volkszeitung, a German-American progressive newspaper supporting and addressing the interests of the working-class.
	12. Volume 48 of a Cincinnati German almanac carried the image and title of the Cincinnatier hinkende Bote (the Cincinnati limping messenger), which was an image popular on the covers of German and German-American almanacs, and was an historical figure harkening back to survivors of wars before the Thirty Year’s War (1618-48).
	13. The Germania Kalender was one of the most popular German-American almanacs in the Midwest, and was published by the firm of Geo. Brumder, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a result of the First World War, the firm changed the name to the America Kalender.
	14. German-American almanacs were published across the U.S., with this being an example of a German-Texan volume for 1935, published by the New Braunfelser Zeitung.
	15. Almanacs were filled with wit, wisdom, and humor. A humorous story about “Herring and Beer,” and a German-English style poem “Dot Schmall Leetle Baby” from a Cincinnati German almanac exemplify this particular aspect.
	16. Almanacs were filled with humorous illustrations, with this one depicting a local public library. The librarian asks if the young lady would be interested in the works of Paul de Kock, such as Der schüchterne Liebhaber (The Shy Admirer). And the response is: Heavens no, the title doesn’t appeal to me!
	17. Due to the mass-market appeal of almanacs, numerous companies advertised in them, with this one showing an advertisement from the Cincinnati German brewing company of Foss-Schneider. Almanacs often appeared in editions that ran into the tens of thousands.
	18. German-American almanacs also provided the vehicle for illustrating German-American life and festivities, with this example showing the ever-popular annual celebration of Maifest
	19. German-Americans collected not only German-American almanacs, but also German-German ones as well, especially for dates of significance, such as for birth-years, anniversaries, graduations, etc. One popular year for German almanacs was 1900, marking the entrance into the 20th century.  From the private collection of Don Heinrich Tolzmann.

1 Robert E. Cazden, A Social History of the German Book Trade in America to the Civil War. (Columbia, South Carolina: Camden House, 1984), p. 261.

2 Regarding the Cincinnati almanac, of which no copy apparently exists, see: Cazden, A Social History of the German Book Trade, p. 151-52. For a bibliography of Cincinnati German imprints, see: Franziska C. Ott, Cincinnati German Imprints: A Checklist. New German-American Studies, Vol. 7. (New York: Peter Lang Pub. Co., 1993). Also, see: Richard Parker Morgan, Preliminary Working List of the Cincinnati Imprints, 1796-1850, from the Database of Richard P. Morgan. (Willoughby, Ohio: R.P. Morgan, 1995).

3 Don Yoder, Groundhog Day. (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2003), p. 46.

4 See: Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Catalog of the German-Americana Collection, University of Cincinnati. 2 vols. (München, K.G. Saur, 1990). Also, see the Collection website at:  http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/ger_americana/