Groundhog Day - Feb 2

Farmers in the German (Pa. Dutch) parts of Pennsylvania and the east would get some hope if the groundhog did not see his shadow. But. This year we are not getting a break... the varmint saw his shadow in single digit temps. So below are some 100-150 year old writings on the tradition. 1880 was also a very cold year, and the groundhog saw his shadow.



Lancaster PA newspaper 1880
"Just as often as the second day of February comes, just so often will the papers of the German localities in Pennsylvania have something to say about the "Groundhog." This year we forgot the "old joker" entirely until the very morning of the 2nd., and our contemporaries seemed to have forgotten him too, for he was not "trotted out" until the issue of the Monday evening papers. The little Scotch couplet in the extract from the Examiner and Express may be literally true, for every year we have "twa winters," parts of winters, beginning the year with a winter month, and ending it with the same.
or
Of course, so far as the groundhog is personally concerned, the whole story is an allegory -a symbol or figure of speech; for stupid as he may be, he is still too cunning to venture out in the open air on such a cold morning as we had on the 2nd of February the present year [1880/2026]. If he was even smart enough to venture out he would not have done so, simply because he could not. He would have been too torpid to move one foot before another. It is, therefore, said very cautiously and wisely "If the groundhog, &c., &c." But, suppose he don't come out at all, what then? The answer would probably be that it would not make the slightest difference in the world whether he comes out or stays in, for the animus of the question rests on the shadow of the animal, and not on the animal itself, and the meteorological significance would be the same, whether the sun reflected the shadow of a dog, a goat or a guineapig. At any rate, "may his shadow never grow less."
The Lancaster Farmer. Feb 1880. p18

CANDLEMAS. 1880
"The Day that Brings the Groundhog Out. Today is Candlemas Day, or as it is more commonly called Groundhog Day. This festival is very strictly kept by the Roman Catholic Church, there being a procession with many lighted candles, and those required for the service of the ensuing year being also on that occasion consecrated; hence the name Candlemas Day. In Scotland, this day is one of the four-term days appointed for periodical payments of money, interest, taxes, etc., and of entry of premises.

An old document of the time of Henry VIII. concerning the rites and ceremonies of the English Church, speaks thus of the custom of carrying candles: "On Candlemas Daye it shall be declared that the bearinge of candles is done in the memorie of Christie, the spiritual lyghte whom Simeon dyd proph redde in the churche that daye." The candles were supposed by the Romans to have the effect of frightening the devil and all evil spirits away from the persons who carried them, or from the houses in which they were placed.

In Scotland the prognostication is expressed in the following distich:
If Candlemas is fair and clear,
There'll be twa [two] winter in the year.

There is a tradition in most parts of Europe to the effect that a fine Candlemas portends a severe winter. We have the groundhog tradition. If on the 2d of February, on leaving his hole he sees his shadow in the sunshine, he returns, and for six weeks thereafter the weather will be rough; but if he does not see his shadow, owing to a clouded sky, he remains out and the weather will be propitious of an early spring. He saw his shadow today; we shall see."
Examiner and Express, February 2, 1880.

GROUNDHOG DAY, February 2- (1926)
"America's day of weather prognostication, based upon the popular belief that if the groundhog should see his shadow on that date six weeks more of winter must be expected and provided for. An old German proverb is that a shepherd would rather see a wolf enter his stable on Candlemas Day (our Groundhog Day) than the sun. Groundhog Day has no especial significance on the Pacific Coast Coast, save the memory of association with former days "back east."
Stuff, Harry Spencer. The Book of Holidays. Times Mirror Co. Los Angeles: 1926 p57

Groundhog Day Superstition 1922
"Ques. What is superstition about groundhog day? Ans. History does not reveal who chose groundhog to act as weather prophet on Feb. 2. His association with Candlemas day goes far back into the ages. There is an old rime:

"If Candlemas is fair and clear,
There'll be twa winters in the year."

As one might infer, verse is of Scotch ancestry. "Twa" means "two." Tradition says if groundhog (otherwise known as woodchuck) sees his shadow on this day he retreats to his hole for six weeks-a sign of late spring; and if he does not see his shadow he stays out-an indication of early spring. In Germany the badger substitutes for groundhog."
The Pathfinder. Washington, D.C. Feb 25, 1922. p22

Image: Good Housekeeping cover Feb 1935 from Cornell U. Library digital collections. HERE

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