American annual journal containing anecdotal weather prognostications, planting schedules, astronomical tables, astrological lore, recipes, anecdotes, and sundry pleasantries of rural interest, first published by Robert B. Thomas in 1792 for the year 1793. The almanac issued long-range weather forecasts, based on esoteric interpretations of natural phenomena, long before the United States Weather Bureau or any other weather service existed, and generations of farmers planted and harvested according to its advice. The word old was added to the name in 1830 to distinguish the journal from impostors. The almanac has been in continuous publication longer than any other American journal.