Do the first 12 days of the year predict the weather?

When I was young, my grandparents down below Frisco City used to pay close attention to the weather on the first 12 days of the new year. Supposedly, the weather on those days would serve as a general guide to how the weather would be throughout the rest of the year.

If it rains on the third day, then the third month – March – will be a wet one. If the seventh day is unusually warm, then the seventh month – July – will be unusually hot. If the tenth day is colder than normal, then you might want to look out for an early first frost in the tenth month, that is, October.

While this method of weather prediction probably isn’t 100-percent reliable, it may have served as a useful guide in the days before the Weather Channel. My grandparents kept their weather notes in their copy of the Old Farmer’s Almanac, which could always be found beside their old rotary telephone. Aside from the King James Version Bible, the almanac was probably the second most read publication in the house.

I was looking through the new 2025 almanac earlier this week and saw where the old holiday known as “Twelfth Night” will come to pass this coming Sunday. This almost forgotten holiday marks the evening before the Epiphany, which is also known as the Twelfth Day, that is, the twelfth day after Christmas. One superstition about Twelfth Night is that it’s unlucky to leave your Christmas decorations up after Twelfth Night.

This second Monday of the month marks the passage of another forgotten holiday, Plough Monday, which is always the first Monday after Twelfth Night. In England, Plough Monday – which you will also find in the Old Farmer’s Almanac – marks the traditional start of the agricultural year. At its core, this holiday was mostly about getting back to work after the Christmas holidays.

The day prior to Plough Monday was called – you guessed it – Plough Sunday. This religious holiday was all about blessing the land, and most celebrations involved bringing farm implements into church for special prayers. Today, some farmers in England ride their tractors to church for the “Blessing of the Plough.”

January’s full moon will also make its face shown on the second Monday of the month. January’s full moon is known as the Full Wolf Moon. The almanac says that it’s called the Wolf Moon because wolves are more likely to be heard howling at this time of year. The almanac also says that the January thaw typically begins around Jan. 25.

For the stargazers in the audience, Jan. 13 will be remarkable because the Moon eclipses the planet Mars. This rare event will appear halfway up the eastern sky for most locations with the Red Planet being at its brightest until 2013. This occultation will be visible throughout the mainland United States, beginning between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time. Mars will reappear about an hour later.

Before the end of January, people will also begin to notice that the days are getting a little longer. On Jan. 1, which was yesterday (Wednesday), the length of daylight hours during the day was nine hours and 10 minutes. By Jan. 31, the length of day will be nine hours and 59 minutes.

100-year-old news highlights from January 1925 editions of The Wilcox Progressive Era

Today marks the first day of the month, so it’s time to take another trip back down memory lane for a look at some of the interesting things that happened in Wilcox County a century ago, way back in January 1925.

In the Jan. 1, 1925 edition of The Wilcox Progressive Era, editor Stanley Clifford Godbold reported that “on Dec. 24 at four o’clock an immense crowd gathered in the beautifully decorated store of the Planters Hardware Co., each person holding the ticket that had been given during the past year for each dollar’s worth purchased, on the Ford car that was to be given away at this time. Miss Doris Baggett drew the numbers from the large tub of numbers, and Mrs. Stella B. Jones was the possessor of the lucky number, thus winning the Ford car.”

Also that week, readers learned that the “Camden Potato House has been remodeled and turned into a pleasure for all the young people. They enjoyed a dance on Christmas night and will enjoy another New Year’s evening.”

In the Jan. 8, 1925 edition of The Progressive Era, readers learned that “Wilcox County will rejoice over the fact that the State Highway Commission on Jan. 5 put in the road budget for 1925 ten miles of road from the Masonic Hall in Camden to the Brandon Highway at Rosebud, and also 4-1/4 miles on the Brandon Highway from Pine Apple to the Butler County line. When this is completed this will provide a government pike from Camden to Montgomery.”

It was also reported that the “Rev. B.E. Feagin, a native of Wilcox County, born and reared at Pine Apple, was run over and killed Sunday morning, Jan. 4, by an automobile at Hendersonville, N.C. He was married to Miss Mattie Lloyd of Pine Apple 41 years ago at the Pine Apple Methodist church, when there was a double wedding, the brides being sisters, and strange the other sister, Mrs. Harry Lazenby of Forest Home, was left a widow only a few weeks ago.”

In the Jan. 15, 1925 edition of the newspaper, it was reported that “Joseph F. Benson, former sheriff of Wilcox County, was named today as the deputy sheriff to serve on the staff of Sheriff Schwartz. Mr. Benson, who was sheriff of Wilcox four years in the early nineties, moved to Mobile with his family about 15 years ago. He will be a special deputy and will be on duty in the jail building and elsewhere as needed.”

Readers that week also learned that “Mesdames Will Riley and W.W. Boykin have bought out the Dixie Café, which was formerly owned by Mr. Williamson of Monroe County.”

In the Jan. 22, 1925 edition of the paper, it was reported that “John B. Ratto, impersonator and humorist, will appear at the Camden Theatre in February. Watch out for the date as you cannot afford to miss this treat. Mr. Ratto’s programs are full of life and action.”

It was also reported that week, in news from Lower Peachtree, that the “Alabama River has reached the high water stage and is still rising rapidly. All of the low lands are now covered with water, little knolls can be seen here and there. The hunters are taking advantage of the high water and are hunting rabbits.”

In the Jan. 29, 1925 edition of the paper, readers learned that “Mr. Otto McLean has opened his shop in the building formerly occupied by Mr. Edgar Stuart. He is prepared to do repairing of all kinds of jewelry and to fit glasses.”

It was also reported that week that the “Rev. and Mrs. Paul Engle of Carlowville are receiving congratulations from their friends in Camden over the birth of a fine little son. The mother and baby will be able to leave the hospital in Selma within a short time.”

Well, I guess that’s all that space will allow for this month. On the first Thursday of next month, I plan to take a look at the events of February 1925 in Wilcox County. Until then, if you get the urge to research the county’s past yourself, take advantage of the Alabama Department of Archives and History’s excellent selection of old newspapers on microfilm and other resources. Their friendly staff will be more than happy to get you started.