Pages from the past
(Page 3 of 4)
March/April 1999
By Kathleen Halloran
Throughout the pages, the Meyers convey their respect for
traditional cures, a reverence for healing plants, and a concern
for the careful preservation of their medicinal qualities. A
bold-faced line at the bottom of one page states in no uncertain
terms: “Botanicals Over a Year Old Are Worthless.”
RELATED CONTENT
One reader asks "I find myself tossing and turning at 4 a.m., only to fall deeply asleep 20 minutes...
Our experts share strategies to boost heart health and prevent diabetes with herbs....
James A. Duke, Ph.D., a key figure of the herbal renaissance, is a Renaissance man in the broadest ...
Q. Are there any known herbal cures for psoriasis? Are there herbs used for helping clear up the le...
The rebel herbalist of the mid-seventeenth century made medicine accessible to the poor....
The end
The almanacs, particularly the one from 1941, carry hints of a
changing marketplace. “Get me just one customer—send me the name
and address for verification and I’ll send you a fine book free,”
and elsewhere, “If our preparations please you, will you kindly
tell your friends?”
This issue, which is loaded with recipes and an exhaustive
dictionary of dream interpretations, announces that the following
year will see “an entirely new, different and if possible more
interesting Almanac,” although the editor adds his opinion that
“each edition of this Almanac has been better than the previous
edition.”
I stumbled across a reference to a book that helped me connect
my tattered copies of the almanac to their family and business
history. The book, by a Joseph Meyer, was published by Meyerbooks,
a small Illinois firm specializing in books on herbs, herbal
recipes, health, and Americana. I discovered that the firm was
owned by Joseph’s grandson, David Meyer, who left the Indiana
Botanic Gardens to start his publishing company in 1976. He filled
in the gaps of the story.
The almanac lasted fifty-four years, then quietly died when
Clarence Meyer retired. “The Herbalist Almanac retired with him,”
David Meyer said. Clarence lived until the age of 94, passing on in
1997. The almanacs that survive in flea markets are a telling
testimony to the endurance not only of a family legacy, but of the
herb industry as well.
Kathleen Halloran, a freelance writer who lives in Laporte,
Colorado, is the former editor of The Herb Companion, sister
publication of Herbs for Health.