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A Chicago alderman had a \u201cpet\u201d proposal to create a Groundhog Day official city holiday to celebrate the groundhog. He claimed it made better predictions than the government and therefore should be honored. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago for 1909, the year of the \u201cPlan of Chicago,\u201d purportedly taken from various news sources:<\/p>\n
Alderman John J. \u201cBathhouse John\u201d Coughlin of Chicago\u2019s First Ward introduced a resolution that would make Groundhog Day a legal city holiday. Coughlin, a saloonkeeper who earned his nickname from his days as a rubber in a bathhouse, deemed the resolution his \u201cpet measure.\u201d Coughlin praised the groundhog, saying its \u201cprognostications are invariably correct, which cannot be said of the men whom the government pays big wages to dope out the weather for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
After more than one attempt elsewhere, Alaska claimed the honor of being the only state to successfully pass an official state holiday on February 2 of each year. The only state to successfully pass a law making the day an official state holiday had everything except the groundhog \u2014 it is Marmot Day. Senate Bill 58 proclaims it is \u201c[a]n Act establishing February 2 of each year as Marmot Day, and providing for an effective date.\u201d And what a unifying idea this was: the bill passed unanimously, with 40 senators voting yea and zero senators voting no. It became effective July 10, 2009.<\/p>\n
When Germans brought the tradition of using February 2 as the day to assess whether there would be an early spring, they had to adopt the groundhog instead of the badger or hedgehog used in Germany, at least according to traditional lore. It was not about the wisdom of the rodent in predicting the weather (whereas Indigenous tradition may look to animal behavior), but rather a concrete way to document whether the sun was shining \u2014 if the rodent had a shadow, then the sun was sufficiently shining.<\/p>\n
It is not surprising, then, that in a place where marmots are most numerous (from Alaska to Montana), Alaska would choose the marmot, an alpine ground squirrel. The holiday is intended to celebrate Alaskan culture, and suitable school programs are encouraged by law. Apparently, Alaska was inspired to select the marmot by Owosso, Michigan, where they had been celebrating the marmot \u2014 also substituting for the groundhog \u2014 but on July 25. According to one source, \u201cAt 12:45 p.m., a marmot is positioned outside its hole, and if it goes into its hole, legend has it that summer is over; if it does not go into its hole, there will be one more month of summer.\u201d There is no indication that Alaska uses the marmot for weather prediction.<\/p>\n
Most disappointing, however, is Pennsylvania for not even trying. Not a single bill has ever been proposed, at least none that could be found, to create an official Groundhog Day state holiday. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania \u2014 the home of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and the famous \u201cPunxsutawney Phil,\u201d the groundhog \u2014 deserves at least a try by its state legislature.<\/p>\n
To read more articles by Professor Sutton go to:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/profvictoria.substack.com\/<\/p>\n