How did Groundhog Day get its start? The rodents were on the menu for the early feasts
Happy Groundhog Day to those who celebrate.
Eyes are surely on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania this morning with many holding their collective breaths to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. The lore behind Groundhog Day is if the rodent, roused from mid-hibernation, sees its shadow then winter goes on for another six weeks. If not, dust off your bathing suits for spring is on its way.
Thousands are expected to gather this morning to see the annual event that was popularized by the 1993 Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.”
⚡ More trending stories:
→Want to make $275,000 a year and work from home?
→Is COVID variant JN.1 too smart for home test kits? What science says.
→Here's why your 2024 tax refund may be delayed.
Much has been said about the Prognosticator of Prognosticators’ record of predicting the arrival of spring. Punxsutawney Phil has been right 39% of the time since the tradition started in 1887, according to the Stormfax Weather Almanac. A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the rodent was right only 40% of the time. NOAA compared the woodchuck’s predictions to a database of U.S. national temperatures.
One thing that is 100% true is that it’s all for fun.
When did Groundhog Day get its start?
The idea for Groundhog Day was hatched in 1886 with a proclamation in The Punxsutawney Spirit from the newspaper’s editor, Clymer Freas: “Today is groundhog day and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen its shadow.” Visitors to Gobbler’s Knob began making the trip the following year.
The 20-pound rodent has a long and illustrious moniker: “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.” His hometown got its title, “Weather Capital of the World,” because of Punxsutawney Phil’s weather predictions.
Why Groundhog Day, why this time of year?
It’s part of a tradition rooted in European agricultural life, marking the midpoint between the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox, the Associated Press reported.
It’s also a time of year that figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas.
And in eastern and central Pennsylvania, where people of German descent have been watching the groundhog’s annual emergence from hibernation for centuries, there’s a tradition of groundhog clubs and celebrations that are independent of Phil.
Who is Phil, the groundhog, named after?
Punxsutawney is an area that Pennsylvania Germans settled — and in the late 1880s started celebrating the holiday by picnicking, hunting and eating groundhogs.
You read that right: Groundhogs were on the menu.
In the 1880s, groundhog meat was served at the Punxsutawney Elks Lodge, Pennsylvania historian Christopher R. Davis told Time.com. Later the Groundhog Club was formed, which hosted both the annual Groundhog Day ceremony and its summertime groundhog hunt. A picnic followed featuring a variety of groundhog dishes
Members of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, organized in 1899, care for Phil at a customized space beside Punxsutawney Memorial Library — where there’s a window with a view into the creature’s burrow. The Punxsutawney groundhog makes predictions but he’s not always predictable. The designated groundhog emerged before sunrise in 1929 and didn’t come out until late afternoon in 1941.
