January

Weight Loss Month

Whether you make it a resolution or not, January is still Weight Loss Month.   NAL Special Collections holds historic USDA, private and commercial materials that document over a century of trends in nutrition, weight loss and diet plans.

Milk Day

(January 11)

The first glass-bottled milk was delivered on this day in 1871. For more dairy-related items, take a look at the exhibit on the American Dairy Industry.

Plough Sunday

(January 18th)

We spell it “plow,” but this month we take note of “Plough Monday,” the traditional start of the English agricultural year.  NAL Special Collections is an outstanding source of material for investigations into the history of agricultural implements.  We honor the plow!

Popcorn Day

(January 19)

Popcorn can be a healthy treat, so it’s completely appropriate that we celebrate National Popcorn Day during Weight Loss Month.  Popcorn is taken very seriously in Special Collections; in fact, we centered an entire exhibit around it.

Seed Swap Day

(January 31)

To mark the beginning of the growing season, gardeners around the country hold local swap meets to trade excess seeds with one another. We have thousands of seed catalogs in the Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection, a small sampling of which is posted below. Many more catalogs are availble via the collection's page at Internet Archive