A recent donation from a Green-relation estate clean-out has revealed a heretofore unknown precursor to the popular August Flower almanac. Before Woodbury's multimillionaire, G.G. Green, introduced the world to his patent medicine remedies by way of his colorful August Flower almanacs, shown above, it is now known that he first experimented with a newspaper format. The first of his almanacs appeared under the title
Green's Pictorial Almanac and began publication on September 1878. The newly discovered
Daily Advertiser Vol.1, No.1 predates Green's almanac format by nearly a year, with a publishing date of February 22nd, 1877.
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| U.S. Patent Image |
This is the only known issue and the fact that it resembles a common daily newspaper of the time probably had more to do with a clever advertising technique than any desire on the part of the firm to continue regular publication. In any case, the newspaper format was switched over to the colorful almanac, which by 1878 was beginning to grow in popularity and usage for
other patent medicine firms. Green's almanac was printed in-house at his Green Avenue, Woodbury, NJ laboratory utilizing his nine printing press fleet (see image below). It proved so popular for him that he took out a patent for the publication in 1882. In 1883 alone, five million copies of his almanacs printed in English, German, French, and Spanish were distributed worldwide. As a result, Woodbury's Post Office ranked seventh in the state for postal revenue. Not bad for a small (but growing) rural community at the time.
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| Green's Laboratory Printing Room |
Editions of the August Flower almanac are routinely found worldwide in academic
library and museum collections pertaining to early American ephemera and advertising and this recent discovery is an important part of the U. S. patent medicine advertising timeline. Given its current deteriorating condition and being the only issue in possible existence, it is important that this undergoes professional
conservation treatment. As always, if you'd like to donate towards the conservation, collection, and digital preservation of any historic item pertaining to Woodbury this can be done easily via our PayPal donation link to the left. For now, the pre-treated
Daily Advertiser has been digitally scanned and we here at the VGPS proudly present this exciting publication for your enjoyment below.* Not to be missed is the
Woodbury is Looking Up article found on page three. This virtual tour of 1877 Woodbury clearly describes the notable buildings and surroundings up and down Broad, Delaware, Cooper, Euclid and Evergreen and features the old
Colonial-style Gloucester County Court House, Woodbury
Town Hall and more. Download and view the following images on your computer for easier reading.
For a more comprehensive chronology for the Green's August
Flower Almanac visit:
An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform
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| August 1878 announcement of new almanac publication |
* These images are property of the Village Green Preservation Society and may only be used for educational purposes or personal use. A credit statement and link attributing the Village Green Preservation Society, Woodbury, NJ must appear alongside any reproduction.
