Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice: Useful Tips and Fascinating Facts for Every Day of the Year [Paperback]

The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2003

Ben Is Back!

Ben Franklin's inventiveness made him the greatest American genius of them all. Now, the spirit of Ben meets the challenges of 21st-century living in Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice. With the 1,538 tips in this amazing book, you'll be able to do everything smarter, better, and cheaper-- just like Ben himself!

Try these for starters.

* Keep eggs fresh twice as long by keeping them in their carton-- not in the refrigerator egg holder-- and stashing them in the lowest part of the fridge.
* Make your panty hose last five times longer with a saltwater soak.
* Grow your best garden ever-- with toilet paper!
* Get your PC screen and keyboard spotless with a used fabric-softener sheet.
* Keep ice cream cones from dripping-- even on the hottest days-- by dropping a marshmallow into the bottom of the cone before adding ice cream.
* Rub off rust spots on your car's chrome with aluminum foil.
* Rid your pets of fleas by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to their food.
* Make your plastic containers smell fresh again with the daily news!

And look inside for more than 1,000 others! You'll get 365 days' worth of ingenious hints, practical solutions, and delicious recipes, along with a generous portion of Ben's witty maxims, historical tidbits, inventions, and advice. Packed with clever cleaning ideas, kitchen wisdom, smart gardening tips, savvy health hints, easy home-repair advice, weather wisdom, and, of course, money-saving strategies, Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice is a book you'll turn to every day of the year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This compendium of wisdom, humor and useful household tips has Ben Franklin as its touchstone and takes off from there, with contributions from a range of almanac writers. Each day on this perpetual calendar gets a full page, with important historical events that occurred on the date; a wise saying and/or weather tip ("January fog means a wet spring"); "A Word to the Wise" from old Ben; and anecdotes from his life ("The Inspired Mind"). The authors also throw in gardening advice, recipes and household advice both practical (e.g., how to remove spray starch from the bottom of an iron) and indulgent ("Make your bedroom a personal retreat. Splurge on luxurious sheets... and surround yourself with books or whatever else you most enjoy"). With line drawings and various fonts lending an old-fashioned air, this is a charming, useful volume.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Ben Is Back!

Ben Franklin's inventiveness made him the greatest American genius of them all. Now, the spirit of Ben meets the challenges of 21st-century living in Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice. With the 1,538 tips in this amazing book, you'll be able to do everything smarter, better, and cheaper-- just like Ben himself!

Try these for starters.

* Keep eggs fresh twice as long by keeping them in their carton-- not in the refrigerator egg holder-- and stashing them in the lowest part of the fridge.
* Make your panty hose last five times longer with a saltwater soak.
* Grow your best garden ever-- with toilet paper!
* Get your PC screen and keyboard spotless with a used fabric-softener sheet.
* Keep ice cream cones from dripping-- even on the hottest days-- by dropping a marshmallow into the bottom of the cone before adding ice cream.
* Rub off rust spots on your car's chrome with aluminum foil.
* Rid your pets of fleas by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to their food.
* Make your plastic containers smell fresh again with the daily news!

And look inside for more than 1,000 others! You'll get 365 days' worth of ingenious hints, practical solutions, and delicious recipes, along with a generous portion of Ben's witty maxims, historical tidbits, inventions, and advice. Packed with clever cleaning ideas, kitchen wisdom, smart gardening tips, savvy health hints, easy home-repair advice, weather wisdom, and, of course, money-saving strategies, Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice is a book you'll turn to every day of the year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Yankee Books (October 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899093892
• ISBN-13: 978-0899093895
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, useful, and fun, April 3, 2005

By 

NJC (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice: Useful Tips and Fascinating Facts for Every Day of the Year (Paperback)

I'm surprised that no one has reviewed this book, since it's very useful and entertaining, easy to read, and inexpensive.

There's one page for each day of the year. On one side of each page are facts about that day (famous birthdays, events). At the top of the page is a quote from Benjamin Franklin on some principle (saving money, etc.) with some illustrative biographical information from Franklin's or somebody else's life. At the bottom is practical advice for the home and garden, from cooling the house to storing cheese (wrap in wax paper, not celophane, because the live cultures need to breath). It usually takes only a couple of minutes to read a page.

I've had the book on my kitchen table or in other place that you regularly visit for a few minutes every day. It's a well-edited and well-designed book and reasonably priced. I'm planning on giving copies as gifts because it's cheap and I can't imagine anybody not enjoying some aspect of it, either from the household hints, the principles, or the daily facts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to read every day, February 24, 2006

By 

Jonathan B. Maxcy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice: Useful Tips and Fascinating Facts for Every Day of the Year (Paperback)

This Book is great to read for anyone with an inspired mind, I love the fact that you can read one page, full of facts each day of the year. Highly recomended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every day in every way we are getting a little bit better, February 13, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice: Useful Tips and Fascinating Facts for Every Day of the Year (Paperback)

Ben Franklin exemplifies one kind of American spirit. The historian Daniel Boorstin said that the greatness of America was in the small improvements it continually provided to everyday life, the spirit of invention. Ben Franklin built a lot of different kinds of better mousetraps, including bifocals, the postal service, and a whole way of thinking about improving the self day - by- day.
This Almanac is compiled in his spirit and contains many examples of his wisdom. It also is chocked full with practical advice for homemakers,and home- improvers.
Old Ben also had a sense of humor on occasion with his wisdom. "Fish and visitors smell after three days he told us" And when were in trouble we can always think of Ben's advice "Any port in a storm"
Some of the stuff here may seem corny , trite , boring . But different strokes for different folks as they say , and there is enough here for 'everyman' to get a little advice and a little
enjoyment of.
Happy Sunday, Monday ,Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday , Saturday.
And Gut Shabbos.