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History of cotton
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Cotton
History
Terminology
Cash crop
Commodity
Cottonopolis
Cotton Belt
Cotton diplomacy
King Cotton
Types
Gossypium hirsutum
Gossypium barbadense
Gossypium arboreum
Gossypium herbaceum
Production
Cotton-spinning machinery
Cotton gin
Cotton mill
Cotton picker
Mercerised cotton
Spinning jenny
Spinning mule
Spinning wheel
Water frame
Fabric
Cambric
Chino
Corduroy
Denim
Seersucker
Terrycloth
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The history of cotton can be traced to domestication. Cotton played an important role in the history of India, the British Empire, and the United States, and continues to be an important crop and commodity.
The history of the domestication of cotton is very complex and is not known exactly.[1] Several isolated civilizations in both the Old and New World independently domesticated and converted cotton into fabric. All the same tools were invented, including combs, bows, hand spindles, and primitive looms.[2]:11–13
Contents
[hide]
1 Early history
1.1 Americas
1.2 Indian subcontinent
2 Middle Ages
2.1 Eastern world
2.2 Western world
3 Early modern period
3.1 Mughal India
3.2 Western world
3.3 Egypt
4 British Empire
4.1 East India Company
4.2 Britain
5 United States of America
5.1 Pre–Civil War
6 Modern history
6.1 Boll weevils
6.2 Africa and India
6.3 Decline in the British cotton industry
6.4 Economy
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
Early history[edit]
The oldest cotton textiles were found in graves and city ruins of civilizations from dry climates, where the fabrics did not decay completely.[3]
Americas[edit]
Some of the oldest cotton bolls were discovered in a cave in Tehuacán Valley, Mexico, and were dated to approximately 5500 BCE, but some doubt has been cast on these estimates. Seeds and cordage dating to about 2500 BCE have been found in Peru.[1] By 3000 BCE cotton was being grown and processed in Mexico, and Arizona. Pre-Incan cotton grave cloths were found in Huaca Prieta in Peru, and date back to 2500 BCE.[4]
Indian subcontinent[edit]
The Indus Valley civilization started cultivating cotton by 2500 BCE. Cotton was mentioned in Hindu hymns in 1500 BCE.[4]
Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, mentions Indian cotton in the 5th century BCE as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep." When Alexander the Great invaded India, his troops started wearing cotton clothes that were more comfortable than their previous woolen ones.[5] Strabo, another Greek historian, mentioned the vividness of Indian fabrics, and Arrian told of Indian–Arab trade of cotton fabrics in 130 CE.[6]
Middle Ages[edit]
Eastern world[edit]
Egyptians grew and spun cotton from 6–700 CE.[4]
Handheld roller cotton gins had been used in India since the 6th century, and was then introduced to other countries from there.[7] Between the 12th and 14th centuries, dual-roller gins appeared in India and China. The Indian version of the dual-roller gin was prevalent throughout the Mediterranean cotton trade by the 16th century. This mechanical device was, in some areas, driven by water power.[8]
The spinning wheel was invented in India, between 500 and 1000 AD.[9] The earliest clear illustrations of the spinning wheel come from the Islamic world in the eleventh century.[10]
Western world[edit]
Cotton was a common fabric during the Middle Ages, and was hand-woven on a loom. Cotton manufacture was introduced to Europe during the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily. The knowledge of cotton weaving was spread to northern Italy in the 12th century, when Sicily was conquered by the Normans, and consequently to the rest of Europe. The spinning wheel, introduced to Europe circa 1350, improved the speed of cotton spinning.[11] By the 15th century, Venice, Antwerp, and Haarlem were important ports for cotton trade, and the sale and transportation of cotton fabrics had become very profitable.[5]
Christopher Columbus, in his explorations of the Bahamas and Cuba, found natives wearing cotton ("the costliest and handsomest... cotton mantles and sleeveless shirts embroidered and painted in different designs and colours"), a fact that may have contributed to his incorrect belief that he had landed on the coast of India.[2]:11–13
Early modern period[edit]
Mughal India[edit]
Main articles: Mughal economy and Muslin trade in Bengal
Further information: Economic history of India
A woman in Dhaka clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century.
Under the Mughal Empire, which ruled in the Indian subcontinent from the early 16th century to the early 18th century, Indian cotton production increased, in terms of both raw cotton and cotton textiles. The Mughals introduced agrarian reforms such as a new revenue system that was biased in favour of higher value cash crops such as cotton and indigo, providing state incentives to grow cash crops, in addition to rising market demand.[12]
The largest manufacturing industry in the Mughal Empire was cotton textile manufacturing, which included the production of piece goods, calicos, and muslins, available unbleached and in a variety of colours. The cotton textile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade.[13] India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century.[14] Indian cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods in world trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the Americas to Japan.[15] The most important center of cotton production was the Bengal Subah province, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka.[16]
Bengal accounted for more than 50% of textiles imported by the Dutch from Asia,[17] Bengali cotton textiles were exported in large quantities to Europe, Indonesia, and Japan,[18] and Bengali muslin textiles from Dhaka were sold in Central Asia, where they were known as "daka" textiles.[16] Indian textiles dominated the Indian Ocean trade for centuries, were sold in the Atlantic Ocean trade, and had a 38% share of the West African trade in the early 18th century, while Indian calicos were a major force in Europe, and Indian textiles accounted for 20% of total English trade with Southern Europe in the early 18th century.[19]
The worm gear roller cotton gin, which was invented in India during the early Delhi Sultanate era of the 13th–14th centuries, came into use in the Mughal Empire some time around the 16th century,[20] and is still used in India through to the present day.[7] Another innovation, the incorporation of the crank handle in the cotton gin, first appeared in India some time during the late Delhi Sultanate or the early Mughal Empire.[21] The production of cotton, which may have largely been spun in the villages and then taken to towns in the form of yarn to be woven into cloth textiles, was advanced by the diffusion of the spinning wheel across India shortly before the Mughal era, lowering the costs of yarn and helping to increase demand for cotton. The diffusion of the spinning wheel, and the incorporation of the worm gear and crank handle into the roller cotton gin, led to greatly expanded Indian cotton textile production during the Mughal era.[22]
It was reported that, with an Indian cotton gin, which is half machine and half tool, one man and one woman could clean 28 pounds of cotton per day. With a modified Forbes version, one man and a boy could produce 250 pounds per day. If oxen were used to power 16 of these machines, and a few people's labour was used to feed them, they could produce as much work as 750 people did formerly.[23]
Western world[edit]
Cotton cloth started to become highly sought-after for the European urban markets during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Vasco da Gama (d. 1524), a Portuguese explorer, opened Asian sea trade, which replaced caravans and allowed for heavier cargo. Indian craftspeople had long protected the secret of how to create colourful patterns. However, some converted to Christianity and their secret was revealed by a French Catholic priest, Father Coeurdoux (1691–1779). He revealed the process of creating the fabrics in France, which assisted the European textile industry.[24]
In early modern Europe, there was significant demand for cotton textiles from Mughal India.[13] European fashion, for example, became increasingly dependent on Mughal Indian textiles. From the late 17th century to the early 18th century, Mughal India accounted for 95% of British imports from Asia, and the Bengal Subah province alone accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia.[17] In contrast, there was very little demand for European goods in Mughal India, which was largely self-sufficient, thus Europeans had very little to offer, except for some woolens, unprocessed metals and a few luxury items. The trade imbalance caused Europeans to export large quantities of gold and silver to Mughal India in order to pay for South Asian imports.[13]
Egypt[edit]
Main article: Egypt under Muhammad Ali
Egypt under Muhammad Ali in the early 19th century had the fifth most productive cotton industry in the world, in terms of the number of spindles per capita.[25] The industry was initially driven by machinery that relied on traditional energy sources, such as animal power, water wheels, and windmills, which were also the principle energy sources in Western Europe up until around 1870.[26] It was under Muhammad Ali of Egypt in the early 19th century that steam engines were introduced to the Egyptian cotton industry.[26]
British Empire[edit]
Main article: Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
East India Company[edit]
Cotton's rise to global importance came about as a result of the cultural transformation of Europe and Britain's trading empire.[6] Calico and chintz, types of cotton fabrics, became popular in Europe, and by 1664 the East India Company was importing a quarter of a million pieces into Britain.[24] By the 18th century, the middle class had become more concerned with cleanliness and fashion, and there was a demand for easily washable and colourful fabric. Wool continued to dominate the European markets, but cotton prints were introduced to Britain by the East India Company in the 1690s.[6] Imports of calicoes, cheap cotton fabrics from Kozhikode, then known as Calicut, in India, found a mass market among the poor. By 1721 these calicoes threatened British manufacturers, and Parliament passed the Calico Act that banned calicoes for clothing or domestic purposes. In 1774 the act was repealed with the invention of machines that allowed for British manufacturers to compete with Eastern fabrics.[27]
Indian cotton textiles, particularly those from Bengal, continued to maintain a competitive advantage up until the 19th century. In order to compete with India, Britain invested in labour-saving technical progress, while implementing protectionist policies such as bans and tariffs to restrict Indian imports.[28] At the same time, the East India Company's rule in India contributed to its deindustrialization, opening up a new market for British goods,[28] while the capital amassed from Bengal after its 1757 conquest was used to invest in British industries such as textile manufacturing and greatly increase British wealth.[29][30][31] British colonization also forced open the large Indian market to British goods, which could be sold in India without tariffs or duties, compared to local Indian producers who were heavily taxed, while raw cotton was imported from India without tariffs to British factories which manufactured textiles from Indian cotton, giving Britain a monopoly over India's large market and cotton resources.[32][28][33] India served as both a significant supplier of raw goods to British manufacturers and a large captive market for British manufactured goods.[34] Britain eventually surpassed India as the world's leading cotton textile manufacturer in the 19th century.[28]
The cotton industry grew under the British commercial empire. British cotton products were successful in European markets, constituting 40.5% of exports in 1784–1786. Britain's success was also due to its trade with its own colonies, whose settlers maintained British identities, and thus, fashions. With the growth of the cotton industry, manufacturers had to find new sources of raw cotton, and cultivation was expanded to West India.[6] High tariffs against Indian textile workshops, British power in India through the East India Company,[24] and British restrictions on Indian cotton imports[35] transformed India from the source of textiles to a source of raw cotton.[24] Cultivation was also attempted in the Caribbean and West Africa, but these attempts failed due to bad weather and poor soil. The Indian subcontinent was looked to as a possible source of raw cotton, but intra-imperial conflicts and economic rivalries prevented the area from producing the necessary supply.[6]
Britain[edit]
A spinning jenny, originally invented by James Hargreaves
Cotton's versatility allowed it to be combined with linen and be made into velvet. It was cheaper than silk and could be imprinted more easily than wool, allowing for patterned dresses for women. It became the standard fashion and, because of its price, was accessible to the general public. New inventions in the 1770s—such as the spinning jenny, the water frame, and the spinning mule—made the British Midlands into a very profitable manufacturing centre. In 1794–1796, British cotton goods accounted for 15.6% of Britain's exports, and in 1804–1806 grew to 42.3%.[6]
The Lancashire textile mills were major parts of the British industrial revolution. Their workers had poor working conditions: low wages, child labour, and 18-hour work days. Richard Arkwright created a textile empire by building a factory system powered by water, which was occasionally raided by the Luddites, weavers put out of business by the mechanization of textile production. In the 1790s, James Watt's steam power was applied to textile production, and by 1839 200,000 children worked in Manchester's cotton mills. Karl Marx, who frequently visited Lancashire, may have been influenced by the conditions of workers in these mills in writing Das Kapital.[24]
United States of America[edit]
Pre–Civil War[edit]
Eli Whitney's patent for the modern cotton gin
Anglo-French warfare in the early 1790s restricted access to continental Europe, causing the United States to become an important—and temporarily the largest—consumer for British cotton goods.[6] In 1791, U.S. cotton production was small, at only 900,000 kilograms. Several factors contributed to the growth of the cotton industry in the U.S.: the increasing British demand; innovations in spinning, weaving, and steam power; inexpensive land; and a slave labour force.[36] The modern cotton gin, invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney, enormously grew the American cotton industry, which was previously limited by the speed of manual removal of seeds from the fibre,[37] and helped cotton to surpass tobacco as the primary cash crop of the South.[38] By 1801 the annual production of cotton had reached over 22 million kilograms, and by the early 1830s the United States produced the majority of the world's cotton. Cotton also exceeded the value of all other United States exports combined.[36] The need for fertile land conducive to its cultivation lead to the expansion of slavery in the United States and an early 19th-century land rush known as Alabama Fever.[39][40]
Cultivation of cotton using black slaves brought huge profits to the owners of large plantations, making them some of the wealthiest men in the U.S. prior to the Civil War. In the non-slave-owning states, farms rarely grew larger than what could be cultivated by one family due to scarcity of farm workers. In the slave states, owners of farms could buy many slaves and thus cultivate large areas of land. By the 1850s, slaves made up 50% of the population of the main cotton states: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Slaves were the most important asset in cotton cultivation, and their sale brought profits to slaveowners outside of cotton-cultivating areas. Thus, the cotton industry contributed significantly to the Southern upper class's support of slavery. Although the Southern small-farm owners did not grow cotton due to its lack of short-term profitability, they were still supportive of the system in the hopes of one day owning slaves.[36]
Cotton's central place in the national economy and its international importance led Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina to make a famous boast in 1858:
Without firing a gun, without drawing a sword, should they make war on us, we could bring the whole world to our feet... What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years?... England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her save the South. No, you dare not to make war on cotton. No power on the earth dares to make war upon it. Cotton is king.[41]
Cotton diplomacy, the idea that cotton would cause Britain and France to intervene in the Civil War, was unsuccessful.[42] It was thought that the Civil War caused the Lancashire Cotton Famine, a period between 1861–1865 of depression in the British cotton industry, by blocking off American raw cotton. Some, however, suggest that the Cotton Famine was mostly due to overproduction and price inflation caused by an expectation of future shortage.[43]
Picking cotton in Oklahoma in the 1890s
Prior to the Civil War, Lancashire companies issued surveys to find new cotton-growing countries if the Civil War were to occur and reduce American exports. India was deemed to be the country capable of growing the necessary amounts. Indeed, it helped fill the gap during the war, making up only 31% of British cotton imports in 1861, but 90% in 1862 and 67% in 1864.[44]
Additionally, the main purchasers of cotton, Britain and France, began to turn to Egyptian cotton. The Egyptian government of Viceroy Isma'il took out substantial loans from European bankers and stock exchanges. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, British and French traders abandoned Egyptian cotton and returned to cheap American exports,[citation needed] sending Egypt into a deficit spiral that led to the country declaring bankruptcy in 1876, a key factor behind Egypt's occupation by the British Empire in 1882.
The South continued to be a one-crop economy until the 20th century, when the New Deal and World War II encouraged diversification.[38] Many ex-slaves as well as poor whites worked in the sharecropping system in serf-like conditions.[citation needed]
Modern history[edit]
Boll weevils[edit]
A boll weevil
“
The farmer said to the merchant
I need some meat and meal.
Get away from here, you son-of-a-gun,
You got boll weevils in your field.
Going to get your home, going to get your home.
”
— Carl Sandburg's version of "The Boll Weevil Song", 1920
Boll weevils, insects that entered the United States from Mexico in 1892, created 100 years of problems for the U.S. cotton industry. Many consider the boll weevil almost as important as the Civil War as an agent of change in the South, forcing economic and social changes. In total, the boll weevil is estimated to have caused $22 billion in damages. In the late 1950s, the U.S. cotton industry faced economic problems, and eradication of the boll weevil was prioritized. The Agricultural Research Service built the Boll Weevil Research Laboratory, which came up with detection traps and pheromone lures. The program was successful, and pesticide use reduced significantly while the boll weevil was eradicated in some areas.[45]
Africa and India[edit]
After the Cotton Famine, the European textile industry looked to new sources of raw cotton. The African colonies of West Africa and Mozambique provided a cheap supply. Taxes and extra-market means again discouraged local textile production. Working conditions were brutal, especially in the Congo, Angola, and Mozambique. Several revolts occurred, and a cotton black market created a local textile industry. In recent history, United States agricultural subsidies have depressed world prices, making it difficult for African farmers to compete.[24]
India's cotton industry struggled in the late 19th century because of unmechanized production and American dominance of raw cotton export. India, ceasing to be a major exporter of cotton goods, became the largest importer of British cotton textiles.[46] Mohandas Gandhi believed that cotton was closely tied to Indian self-determination. In the 1920s he launched the Khadi Movement, a massive boycott of British cotton goods. He urged Indians to use simple homespun cotton textiles, khadi. Cotton became an important symbol in Indian independence. During World War II, shortages created a high demand for khadi, and 16 million yards of cloth were produced in nine months. The British Raj declared khadi subversive; damaging to the British imperial rule. Confiscation, burning of stocks, and jailing of workers resulted, which intensified resistance.[2]:309–311 In the second half of the 20th century, a downturn in the European cotton industry led to a resurgence of the Indian cotton industry. India began to mechanize and was able to compete in the world market.[46]
Decline in the British cotton industry[edit]
Play media
British textile mills in 1913
In 1912, the British cotton industry was at its peak, producing eight billion yards of cloth. In World War I, cotton couldn't be exported to foreign markets, and some countries built their own factories, particularly Japan. By 1933 Japan introduced 24-hour cotton production and became the world's largest cotton manufacturer. Demand for British cotton slumped, and during the interwar period 345,000 workers left the industry and 800 mills closed.
India's boycott of British cotton products devastated Lancashire, and in Blackburn 74 mills closed in under four years.
In World War II, the British cotton industry saw an upturn and an increase in workers, with Lancashire mills being tasked with creating parachutes and uniforms for the war.
In the 1950s and '60s, many workers came from the Indian sub-continent and were encouraged to look for work in Lancashire. An increase in the work force allowed mill owners to introduce third (night) shifts. This resurgence in the textile industry did not last long, and by 1958, Britain had become a net importer of cotton cloth.
Modernization of the industry was attempted in 1959 with the Cotton Industry Act.
Mill closures occurred in Lancashire, and it was failing to compete with foreign industry. During the 1960s and '70s, a mill closed in Lancashire almost once a week. By the 1980s, the textile industry of North West Britain had almost disappeared.[47]
Economy[edit]
Textile mills have moved from Western Europe to, more recently, lower-wage areas. Industrial production is currently mostly located in countries like India, Bangladesh, China, and in Latin America. In these regions labour is much less expensive than in the first world, and attracts poor workers.[24] Biotechnology plays an important role in cotton agriculture as genetically modified cotton that can resist Roundup, a herbicide made by the company Monsanto, as well as repel insects.[2]:277 Organically grown cotton is becoming less prevalent in favour of synthetic fibres made from petroleum products.[2]:301
The demand for cotton has doubled since the 1980s.[48] The main producer of cotton, as of December 2016, is India, at 26%, past China at 20% and the United States at 16%.[49] The leading cotton exporter is the United States, whose production is subsidized by the government, with subsidies estimated at $14 billion between 1995 and 2003. The value of cotton lint has been decreasing for sixty years, and the value of cotton has decreased by 50% in 1997–2007. The global textile and clothing industry employs 23.6 million workers, of which 75% are women.[48]
Max Havelaar, a fair trade association, launched a fair trade label for cotton in 2005, the first for a non-food commodity. Working with small producers from Cameroon, Mali, and Senegal, the fair trade agreement increases substantially the price paid for goods and increases adherence to World Labour Organization conventions. A two-year period in Mali has allowed farmers to buy new agricultural supplies and cattle, and enroll their children in school.[50]
See also[edit]
Diplomacy of the American Civil War#Cotton and the British economy
History of agriculture
References[edit]
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Further reading[edit]
Yafa, Stephen (2006). Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143037224.
Beckert, Sven (2014). Empire of Cotton: A Global History. Knopf. ISBN 978-0375414145.
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text:
Groundhog Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Groundhog Day (disambiguation).
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Observed by
United States
Canada
Type
Cultural
Significance
Supposedly predicts the arrival of spring
Celebrations
Announcing whether a groundhog sees its shadow after it emerges from its burrow
Date
February 2
Frequency
Annual
Related to
Candlemas
Groundhog Day, (Pennsylvania German: Grund'sau dåk, Grundsaudaag, Grundsow Dawg, Murmeltiertag; Nova Scotia: Daks Day[1]) is a popular tradition celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog (Deitsch: Grundsau, Grunddax, Dax) emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow or not and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.[2]
The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: dachs) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.
The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended. Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeast part of the state celebrate them as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada have also adopted the event.
The 1993 film Groundhog Day helped boost recognition of the custom, and the celebration has spread even further afield. In 2009, Quebec began to mark the day (Canadian French: Jour de la Marmotte) with its own groundhog.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
1.1 Punxsutawney beginnings
1.2 Punxsutawney today
2 Other locations
3 Origins
3.1 Protestant Germany
3.1.1 Groundhog as badger
3.2 Bear-rat
3.3 Simpler Candlemas lore
3.4 British Isles
4 Accuracy
4.1 Statistics
4.2 Pseudoscientific evaluation
5 Characteristics of groundhogs
6 Similar customs
7 Explanatory notes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
History[edit]
The groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.
The observance of Groundhog Day in the United States first occurred in German communities in Pennsylvania, according to known records.
The earliest mention of Groundhog Day is a February 2, 1840 entry in the diary of James L. Morris of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, according to the book on the subject by Don Yoder. This was a Welsh enclave but the diarist was commenting on his neighbors who were of German stock.[a][b][4][5]
Punxsutawney beginnings[edit]
The first reported news of a Groundhog Day observance was arguably made by the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in 1886:[c] "up to the time of going to press, the beast has not seen its shadow". However, it was not until the following year in 1887 that the first Groundhog Day considered "official" was commemorated here,[6] with a group making a trip to the Gobbler's Knob part of town to consult the groundhog. People have gathered annually at the spot for the event ever since.[7][8]
Clymer Freas (1867–1942)[d] who was city editor at the Punxsutawney Spirit is credited as the "father" who conceived the idea of "Groundhog Day".[9][e] It has also been suggested that Punxsutawney was where all the Groundhog Day events originated, from where it spread to other parts of the United States and Canada.[11]
The Groundhog Day celebrations of the 1880s were carried out by the Punxsutawney Elks Lodge. The lodge members were the "genesis" of the Groundhog Club formed later, which continued the Groundhog Day tradition. But the lodge started out being interested in the groundhog as a game animal for food. It had started to serve groundhog at the lodge, and had been organizing a hunting party on a day each year in late summer.[12]
The chronologies given are somewhat inconsistent in the literature. The first "Groundhog Picnic" was held in 1887 according to a book for popular reading by an academic,[9] but given as post-circa-1889 by a local historian in a journal. The historian states that around 1889 the meat was served in the lodge's banquet, and the organized hunt started after that.[12]
Either way, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was formed in 1899, and continued the hunt and "Groundhog Feast", which took place annually in September.[13][14] The "hunt" portion of it became increasingly a ritualized formality, because the practical procurement of meat had to occur well ahead of time for marinating. A drink called the “groundhog punch” was also served.[f][15][16] The flavor has been described as a "cross between pork and chicken".[17] The hunt and feast did not attract enough outside interest, and the practice discontinued.[13]
Punxsutawney today[edit]
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as large as 40,000 gather each year[18] (nearly eight times the year-round population of the town).[19] The average draw had been about 2,000 until the year after the movie screened in 1993, after which attendance rose to about 10,000.[13] The official Phil is pretended to be a supercentenarian, having been the same forecasting beast since 1887.[13]
Other locations[edit]
Banner of Grundsow Lodsh Nummer Sivva (Groundhog Lodge Number Seven), of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania
The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, which was formed in 1907, has carried out the ceremonies that take place in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.[20] It used to be a contending rival to Punxsutawney over the Groundhog Day fame. It employs a taxidermic specimen (stuffed woodchuck).[13]
In southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge,[21] social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment. The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime, or quarter per word spoken, with the money put into a bowl in the center of the table.[22]
Staten Island Chuck is the official weather-forecasting woodchuck for New York City.[23] Dunkirk Dave (a stage name for numerous groundhogs that have filled the role since 1960) is the local groundhog for Western New York, handled by Bob Will, a typewriter repairman who runs a rescue shelter for groundhogs.[24][25]
In Washington, DC, the Dupont Circle Groundhog Day event features Potomac Phil, another taxidermic specimen. In addition to the spring prediction, if Potomac Phil sees its shadow, it portents six more months of political gridlock.[citation needed]
In the American South, the General Beauregard Lee of Lilburn, Georgia is known to have the most accurate prediction, standing at 94%.[citation needed] The University of Dallas in Irving, Texas has boasted of hosting the second largest Groundhog celebration in the world.[26]
The day is observed with various ceremonies at other locations in North America beyond the United States,[27] including Wiarton Willie of Wiarton, Ontario,[28] and Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia which, due to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Time Zone, makes the first Groundhog Day prediction in North America.[29] "Daks Day" (from the German dachs) is Groundhog Day in the dialect of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.[30]
In French Canada, Fred la marmotte of Val-d'Espoir[31][32] has been the representative forecaster for the province of Quebec since 2009.[33][32] A study also shows that in Quebec, the marmot or groundhog (siffleux) are regarded as Candlemas weather-predicting beasts in some scattered spots, but the bear is the more usual animal.[34][g]
In 2017 Groundhog Day was scheduled to be observed at zoos in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Samara, Russia.[37]
Origins[edit]
The Pennsylvania Dutch were immigrants from German-speaking areas of Europe. The Germans already had a tradition of marking Candlemas (February 2) as "Badger Day" (Dachstag), where if a badger emerging found it to be a sunny day thereby casting a shadow, it foreboded the prolonging of winter by four more weeks.
Protestant Germany[edit]
The Candlemas was a Catholic festival officially eliminated by the Protestant Reformers, but it had been retained and continued to be celebrated by the folk.[38]
The weather-predicting animal on Candlemas was usually the badger, although regionally the animal was the bear or the fox.[39] The original weather-predicting animal in Germany had been the bear, another hibernating mammal, but when they grew scarce the lore became altered.[40]
Similarity to the groundhog lore has been noted for the German formula "Sonnt sich der Dachs in der Lichtmeßwoche, so geht er auf vier Wochen wieder zu Loche" (If the badger sunbathes during Candlemas-week, for four more weeks he will be back in his hole).[h][41] A slight variant is found in a collection of weather lore (bauernregeln, lit. "farmers' rules") printed in Austria in 1823.[42]
Groundhog as badger[edit]
So the same tradition as the Germans, except that winter's spell would be prolonged for six weeks instead of four, was maintained by the Pennsylvanians on Groundhog Day.[43] In Germany, the animal was dachs or badger. For the Pennsylvania Dutch, it became the dox which in Deitsch referred to "groundhog".[i][3][44]
The standard term for "groundhog" was grun′daks (from German dachs), with the regional variant in York County being grundsau, a direct translation of the English name, according to a 19th-century book on the dialect.[45] The form was a regional variant according to one 19th century source.[45] However, the weather superstition that begins "Der zwet Hær′ning is Grund′sau dåk. Wânn di grundau îr schâtte sent... ("February second is Groundhog day. If the groundhog sees its shadow...)" is given as common to all 14 counties in Dutch Pennsylvania Country, in a 1915 monograph.[j][46] The form grundsow has been used by the lodge in Allentown and elsewhere.[47]
Bear-rat[edit]
The groundhog was once also known by the obsolete Latin alias Arctomys monax. The genus name signified "bear-rat".[36][48] The European marmot is of the same genus and was formerly called Arctomys alpinus. It was speculated that the European counterpart might have lore similar to the groundhog attached to it.[36][k]
Simpler Candlemas lore[edit]
See also: weather lore
The German version, with the introduction of the badger (or other beasts) was an expansion on a more simple tradition that if the weather was sunny and clear on Candlemas Day people expected winter to continue.[43] The simpler version is summarized in the English (Scots dialect) couplet that runs "If Candlemas is fair and clear / There'll be twa winters in the year",[l][m] with equivalent phrases in French and German.[35] And the existence of a corresponding Latin couplet has been suggested as evidence of the great antiquity of this tradition.[n][35]
In fact, the Christian Candlemas itself was an assimilation of the Roman rite for the goddess Februa with a procession on February 2, to honor her, according to Yoder. The Roman calendar, in turn, had Celtic origins. Candlemas concurs with Imbolc, one of the Celtic ‘cross-quarter days’, the four days which marked the midpoints between solstice and equinox.[49][4]
British Isles[edit]
Scholar Rhys Carpenter in 1946 emphasized that the Badger Day tradition was strong in Germany, but absent in the British Isles (England, Scotland, or Ireland), and he referred to this as a reason that the U.S. Groundhog Day was not brought by immigrants from these places.[50]
There did exist a belief among Roman Catholics in Britain that the hedgehog predicted the length of winter, or so it has been claimed, but without demonstration of its age, in a publication by the Scotland-born American journalist Thomas C. MacMillan in 1886,[35] and American writer/journalist Samuel Adams Drake's book published in 1900.[51][o]
There are also claims of Irish lore that the hedgehog emerging out of hibernation on Brigid's Day (February 1) is a predictor of weather, and a few Celtic scholars advocate this modern Christian Irish lore to be the source of the Groundhog Day tradition in the United States.[52][53]
Accuracy[edit]
In Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil has become a popular tradition. On February 2nd, people within the city will gather to find out whether or not Phil’s shadow is revealed. With that, he will allegedly determine whether spring will soon begin by not seeing his shadow, or if winter will ensue for six more weeks.
Statistics[edit]
Punxsutawney Phil's statistics are kept by the Pennsylvania’s Groundhog Club which cares for the animal. Phil has predicted 103 forecasts for winter and just 17 for an early spring.[54] Most assessments of Phil's accuracy have given accuracy lower than would be expected with random chance, with Stormfax Almanac giving an estimate of 39%,[55] and meteorologist Tim Roche of Weather Underground giving a 36% accuracy rate between 1969 and 2016 (a range chosen because local weather data was most reliable from 1969 onward) and a 47% record in that time span when predicting early spring.[54] Other poor results from analysis are reported by the Farmer's Almanac (which itself has been known for forecasts of questionable accuracy) as "exactly 50 percent" accuracy,[56] and The National Geographic Society reporting only 28% success.[57] But a Middlebury College team found that a long-term analysis of temperature high/low predictions were 70% accurate, although when the groundhog predicted early spring it was usually wrong.[58] Canadian meteorologist Cindy Day has estimated that Nova Scotia's "Shubenacadie Sam" has an accuracy rate of about 45% compared to 25% for Wiarton Willy in Ontario.[59]
Part of the problem with pinning down an accuracy rate for the groundhog is that what constitutes an early spring is not clearly defined. Other groundhogs such as Staten Island Chuck do use an objective formula (in Chuck's case, a majority of days that reach 40 °F (4 °C) in New York City between Groundhog Day and the March equinox) to assess accuracy.[60]
Pseudoscientific evaluation[edit]
Prediction based on an animal’s behavior, which may seem ridiculous nowadays, used to be given more credence in the past when stores of food became scarce as winter progressed.[61]
One theory states that the groundhog naturally comes out of hibernation in central Pennsylvania in early February because of the increasing average temperature. Under this theory, if German settlement had been centered further north, Groundhog Day would take place at a later date.[62] However, the observed behavior of groundhogs in central New Jersey was that they mostly come out of their burrows in mid-March, regardless of Groundhog Day weather.[63]
Characteristics of groundhogs[edit]
Further information: Groundhog
Groundhogs are creatures within the rodent family that weigh between 12 and 15 pounds and can live up to 8 years.[64] These animals are omnivores, but commonly feast on grass, vegetables, and fruit. Groundhogs have the ability to climb trees and, much like beavers, swim. Each fall, groundhogs go into hibernation until March. When the animals emerge from hibernation, their initial purpose is to find a mate.
Similar customs[edit]
See also: Weather lore § animal signs, and Weather lore § February
In Croatia and Serbia, Orthodox Christians have a tradition that on February 2 (Candlemas) or February 15 (Sretenje, The Meeting of the Lord), the bear will awaken from winter dormancy, and if it sees (meets) its own shadow in this sleepy and confused state, it will get scared and go back to sleep for an additional 40 days, thus prolonging the winter. Thus, if it is sunny on Sretenje, it is a sign that the winter is not over yet. If it is cloudy, it is a good sign that the winter is about to end.[65]
Similarly in Germany, on the 27th of June, they recognize the Seven Sleepers' Day (Siebenschläfertag). If it rains that day, the rest of summer is supposedly going to be rainy. As well, in the United Kingdom, the 15th of July is known as St. Swithin's day.[66] It was traditionally believed that, if it rained on that day, it would rain for the next 40 days and nights.[66]
Explanatory notes[edit]
Jump up ^ February 2, 1840 read: "Today the Germans say the groundhog comes out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he returns in and remains there 40 days."
Jump up ^ Some sources stated that Morris's February 4, 1841 entry was the oldest. It read: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."[3]
Jump up ^ Some books attribute this positively to Clymer Freas.
Jump up ^ Also styled H. C. Freas, H. Clymer Freas, or Clymer H. Freas
Jump up ^ Other contemporaries of Freas (his colleagues at the paper and fellow-members of the club, etc.) have been given credit for the promotion of Groundhog Day: W. O. Smith, another editor of the paper and later elected to U. S. Congress, cartoonist C. M. Payne, and John P. Cowan of the Pittsburgh Gazette.[10]
Jump up ^ a combination of vodka, milk, eggs and orange juice, among many other ingredients.
Jump up ^ There were beliefs in Switzerland and France that the marmot predicted the weather, according to MacMillan.[35] "S. S. R." also speculated there might be similar lore for the European marmot, Arctomys alpinus.[36]
Jump up ^ Noted by Uwe Johnson; the formula was printed in the Voß un Haas (nds) "Fox and Hare" calendars of Mecklenburg.
Jump up ^ "Of course everybody knows that February 2 is groundhog day. If the dox (the dialect word for groundhog) sees its shadow on this day, the belief is that six weeks of bad weather will follow".
Jump up ^ The letter "â" is actually "a with circumflex below".
Jump up ^ Signed "S. S. R." of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Note that S. S. Rathvon wrote the editorial "The Ground-Hog" and "More of the Ground-hogs" where he refers to the creature as "Old Arctomyx" in the editorial in the March 1884 issue of the Lancaster Farmer XV:3.
Jump up ^ A couplet the same as this except "two winters" in standard English is given in Davis (1985), p. 103, alongside two other variants.
Jump up ^ "Second Winter"[8] appears to be a neologism that paraphrases "two winters".
Jump up ^ "Si Sol splenescat Maria purificante / Major erit glacies post festum quam fuit ante". Note that Maria purificante or The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the reference to Candlemas day, since this is the biblical event that Candlemas is supposed to commemorate.[4]
Jump up ^ Drake also states that the German lore about the badger predicting the winter's duration was firmly accepted in New England. The groundhog, badger/bear, and hedgehog are all noted as paralleling each other.
References[edit]
Citations
Jump up ^ Poteet, Lewis J. (2004) [1988], The South Shore Phrase Book (New, revised, and expanded ed.), Hantsport: Lancelot Press
Jump up ^ https://www.livescience.com/49665-groundhog-day-predictions.html
^ Jump up to: a b Shoemaker, Alfred L. (February 1, 1954), February Lore, 5 (11) (download)
^ Jump up to: a b c Kruesi, Margaret (Summer 2007). "Reviewed Work: Groundhog Day by Don Yoder". Journal of American Folklore. 120 (477): 367–368. JSTOR 20487565
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), pp. 49, 54, 143, diary printed in "Folklore from the Diary of James L. Morris, 1845–1646", Pennsylvania Dutchman 3:17 (February 1, 1952)"
Jump up ^ Davis (1985), p. 110.
Jump up ^ Davis (1985), p. 109.
^ Jump up to: a b "This Is the Story Behind Groundhog Day". Time. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b Yoder (2003), p. 10.
Jump up ^ Davis (1985).
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), Chapter II, "Punxsutawney to the World"
^ Jump up to: a b Davis (1985), p. 106.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Carlson, Peter (February 3, 2004). "His Moment In the Sun". The Washington Post. 23.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. 11.
Jump up ^ Davis (1985), p. 107.
Jump up ^ "The Original Groundhog Day Involved Eating the Groundhog". Time. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
Jump up ^ Pittsburgh Gazette, September 27, 1903, cited by Davis (1985), p. 106, note 12.
Jump up ^ Park, PhD, David (February 2, 2006). "Happy Groundhog Day to You!". Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. 9.
Jump up ^ Davis (1985), p. 105.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. xii.
Jump up ^ Rosenberger, Homer Tope (1966). The Pennsylvania Germans: 1891–1965. Lancaster, PA: Pennsylvania German Society. pp. 194–199. OCLC 1745108.
Jump up ^ Rosenberg, Eli (February 2, 2016). "Staten Island Groundhog Makes Star Turn, This Year Without de Blasio". N.Y./Region. New York, New York: The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Punxsutawney Phil and seven other famous groundhogs you should know". Fox News. February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
Jump up ^ Kirst, Sean (February 2, 2018). "Sean Kirst: For Dunkirk Dave's caretaker, every day is Groundhog Day". The Buffalo News. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
Jump up ^ Colleges in the Midwest: Compare Colleges in Your Region (24 ed.). Peterson's. 2009. p. 298. ISBN 9780768926903. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. 33.
Jump up ^ "Hopeful Canadians look to Groundhog Day for predictions of an early spring". Canadian Press. February 2, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Shubenacadie Sam prepping for Groundhog Day". King's County Register. January 30, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
Jump up ^ Poteet, Lewis J. (2004) [1988], The South Shore Phrase Book (New, revised, and expanded ed.), Hantsport: Lancelot Press
Jump up ^ "Groundhog Day: Quebec groundhog disagrees with Shubenacadie Sam, Wiarton Willie". The Gazette. Montreal, CA. February 2, 2012. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b "Le jour de la marmotte, science ou folklore?". Radio-Canada. February 2, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Fred la marmotte : encore six semaines d'hiver!". Radio-Canada. February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015. la marmotte officielle du Québec
Jump up ^ Rodrigue, Denise (1983). Le cycle de Pâques au Québec et dans l'Ouest de la France. Presses Université Laval. pp. 34, 36. ISBN 9782763769035.
^ Jump up to: a b c d MacMillan, Thomas C., ed. (1886). Ground-Hog Day ― Candlemas. The Inter Ocean Curiosity Shop for the year 1885 (3 ed.). Chicago: The Inter Ocean Publishing Company. pp. 68–69.
^ Jump up to: a b c S.S.R. (February 15, 1890), "Arctomyx monax", American Notes and Queries, 4: 188
Jump up ^ "Groundhog Day 2017: Furry Forecasters Around the World". sputniknews.com. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. 42.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), pp. 52–53.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. 54.
Jump up ^ Uwe Johnson, cited by Grambow, Jürgen (1994), "Möglichkeiten einer intellektuellen Kritik an diesem Mecklenburg", Johnson-Jahrbuch, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1, p. 77
Jump up ^ Lewenau, Joseph Arnold Ritter von (1823), Der angewandte Fresenius; oder, Sammlung geordneter allgemeiner Witterungs- und sogenannter Bauernregeln, Vienna, J.G. Mösle, p. 20: "Wenn sich der Dachs zu Lichtmeß sonnt, so gehet er wieder auf vier Wochen in sein Loch. (If the badger is in the sun at Candlemas, he will have to go back into his hole for another four weeks)"
^ Jump up to: a b Yoder (2003), p. 52.
Jump up ^ dachs is glossed as meaning "raccoon, groundhog, or short-legged dog" in : Lambert, Marcus Bachman (1924), "Pennsylvania-German Dictionary", Pennsylvania-German Society: 35
^ Jump up to: a b Haldeman, Samuel Stehman (1872), Pennsylvania Dutch: A Dialect of South German with an Infusion of English, Reformed Church Publication Board, pp. 5–6
Jump up ^ Fogel, Edwin Miller (1915). Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans. 18. Philadelphia: American Germanica Press. p. 236.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), pp. 67, 76.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), pp. 54–57.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), pp. 52, 42–43.
Jump up ^ Yoder (2003), p. 53.
Jump up ^ Drake, Samuel Adams (1900). The Myths and Fables of To-day. Frank T. Merill (illustr.). Boston: Lee and Shepard. pp. 43–44.
Jump up ^ Minard, Antone (2012), "Imbolc", The Celts, ABC-CLIO, 1, p. 444, ISBN 978-1-5988-4964-6
Jump up ^ Danaher, Kevin (1972) The Year in Ireland, Cork/Dublin, Mercier Press, pp. 13–14, cited by MacLeod, Sharon Paice (2003). "Oenach Aimsire na mBan: Early Irish Seasonal Celebrations, Gender Roles and Mythological Cycles". Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. 23: 274. and note 81.JSTOR 25660739: "To see a hedgehog come out of its hole was a good sign. If the animal stayed out, this indicated the return of good weather". "This custom was transformed into Groundhog Day in the United States".
^ Jump up to: a b "How Accurate Are Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day Forecasts?". Live Science. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
Jump up ^ Stormfax. "Groundhog Day History from Stormfax® 2016". www.stormfax.com. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
Jump up ^ Thomas, R. B. (1998), The Farmer's Almanac, p. 67, cited in Aaron et al. (2001), p. 28
Jump up ^ Allison, Christine (1995), 365 days of gardening, p. 353, cited in Aaron et al. (2001), p. 28
Jump up ^ Aaron, Michael A.; Boyd, Brewster B., Jr.; Curtis, Melanie J.; Sommers, Paul M. (January 2001), "Punxsutawney's Phenomenal Phorecaster", The College Mathematics Journal, 32 (1): 26–29 . doi:10.2307/2687216.
Jump up ^ Tom Ayers, "Shubenacadie Sam unlikely to see his shadow", Chronicle Herald, January 31, 2018a
Jump up ^ Groundhog Day 2017: Staten Island Chuck calls for an early spring
Jump up ^ Lewis, Danny. "A Short History of Groundhog Day". Smithsonian. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
Jump up ^ Coin, Glenn (February 1, 2015). Groundhog Day 2016: Do you trust a rodent to predict the weather? Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Happy Groundhog Day...again?". caucus99percent.com. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
Jump up ^ "First Groundhog Day — Feb 02, 1887 - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
Jump up ^ Lodge, Olive (1942), Peasant Life in Yugoslavia, Ams Press Inc, p. 142
^ Jump up to: a b Keever, Homer M. (1976), Iredell, Piedmont County, Iredell County Bicentennial Commission, p. 26
Bibliography
Davis, Christopher R. (April 1985), "Totemism and Civic Boosterism in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, 1899-1909", The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, 68 (2)
Yoder, Don (2003). Groundhog Day. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811700291. OCLC 52542605.
Further reading[edit]
Old, W. C., and P. Billin-Frye (2004). The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman.
Pulling, A. F. (2001). Around Punxsutawney. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia.
External links[edit]
Gobblers Knobb Punxsatawney's Mascot
Groundhog Day – The Official Website of the Punxsatawney Groundhog Club
Groundhogstuff.com. The Official Punxsutawney Phil Souvenir Shop located in Punxsutawney, PA.
Short Punxsutawney Groundhog Day Documentary: A Holiday for Everyone
Groundhog Days in Woodstock, IL
Wiarton Willie Festival – Wiarton, Ontario
Groundhog Day (1993) movie on IMDb
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