Poor Richard's Almanac Benjamin Franklin

On December 28, 1732, Benjamin Franklin began publishing a humble endeavor, an almanac to be exact. He titled his creation “Poor Richard's Almanac” and assumed the identity of Richard Saunders, a somewhat dull, but otherwise lively country man who extolled the virtues of hard work and frugality. He wrote this pamphlet expecting to sell enough copies for a small profit, but nothing more. After all, almanacs were only good for the local population they covered, so they had a limited range of customers. Franklin's proved different, though, and was successful enough that he had to make three impressions of his first almanac. He sold 10,000 copies a year and it proved to be his most popular publishing venture after his famous newspaper, The Pennsylvania …show more content…
While the modern almanac is vastly different from the ones of Franklin's time, they still share many similarities. Both comprise of a calendar onto which data is organized by rows and columns. The information both contain concerns things such as the weather predictions, tidal patterns, church festivals, planting tables and interesting facts. However, this is where the similarities end. While almanacs had a revered space in the homes of many during colonial times, today they are interesting reads at best. Also, most modern versions have expanded their scope to include subjects such as history, technology, sports, transportation, government, and economics. They are often much lengthier than their antique predecessors as almanacs were typically only 24 to 36 pages in length as well. This is because today's almanac is mainly meant to entertain or inform the reader on a particular subject. The almanac of the past was meant to serve as a multiple purpose guide, limited journal, calendar and record keeper. Amusement was an added bonus and at the author's …show more content…
Franklin, being an entrepreneur, took advantage of this and decided to make use of this fact and sprinkled his almanac with proverbs and other interesting tidbits to hook readers. His customers adored his witty language and personal touches despite the fact he openly admitted to borrowing wisdom from others and simply crafting it into terms more palatable to the common man. Unlike the original sayings, though, Franklin's versions were easy for his audience to remember and relate to. Another thing he did to attract viewers was insert short stories that continued into the next year so that he would have customers returning the next year to find out what happened next. Franklin's simple way of speaking as Richard and his advice on varying topics from finances to personal relationships. As the fame of his almanac grew, Franklin also adapted to better meet demand. This means that he crafted unique almanacs with predictions tailored for the different regions. It also meant that Poor Richard was the first almanac to serve more than the local area it was originally printed