As the weather starts to warm up and the school semester ends, we here at the IDHH are ready to celebrate summer and summer vacations! Whether you’re headed outside for some fun in the sun and sport, off to the beach for the sand and waves, or just remaining at home for a staycation, we hope you can take some time to rest and relax before the “Sirius-ly Scorching Dog Days of Summer” arrive.
Here are a few of our favorite items related to summer vacations:
Vacation Days, Lake Bluff, Ill. m86.1.1481. August 7, 1913. Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. Lake County History in Postcards. Courtesy of Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County.High School kids on vacation, Bloomington-Normal, IL 1949. July 7, 1949. Created by Stanley Lantz. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negative Collection, 1946 – 1949. Courtesy of McLean County Museum of History.Vacation days, Chicago [front]. July 19, 1909. Imprint by V.O. Hammon (Chicago, Ill.). Eastern Illinois University. Booth Library Postcard Collection. Courtesy of Eastern Illinois University.High School kids on vacation, Bloomington-Normal, IL 1949. July 7, 1949. Created by Stanley Lantz. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negative Collection, 1946 – 1949. Courtesy of McLean County Museum of History.Me travel? …not this summer. Vacation at home. 1945. Created by Albert Dorne (1904-1965). Illinois State University. World War II-Era Posters and Propaganda. Courtesy of Illinois State University.Sublimating vacation; Pantagraph photostory; vacations during wartime, Bloomington, IL, 1944. July 19, 1944. Created by Gladys Mittelbrusher. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negative Collection, 1940-1944. Courtesy of McLean County Museum of History.
As the weather and humidity in central Illinois make it feel more and more like the temperature is over 100°F outside, the IDHH is highlighting the proverbial “dog days” of summer. While the phrase “dog days” or “dog days of summer” might be somewhat familiar, just what are these days and how did this expression enter our cultural lexicon? From an astronomical point of view, the phrase refers to the annual phenomenon in which the bright star Sirius rises into the sky at the same time as the Sun. This heliacal rising allows viewers to see both the Sun and the Sirius star simultaneously, leading to the belief that Sirius intensified or added to the Sun’s heat. In the Northern Hemisphere, this simultaneous rising may be seen during the hottest months of the year, in July and August.
Hellenistic astrologers in the Mediterranean were aware of the star Sirius, calling it the “Dog Star” due to the way it followed the constellation Orion into the night sky. The sweltering and humid weather in the Mediterranean during these months would often cause people to fall ill, and so the connection was made between Sirius’ heliacal rising and its effect on the populations below. A variety of detrimental effects to human activities were attributed with Sirius’ rising such as lethargy, fever, and bad luck, as well as the belief that this hot period brought out madness in dogs, further reinforcing the notion of the “dog days”. While we may no longer blame a summer fever on the “dog days of summer”, there is no denying the potent influence of a heat wave in July to inspire lazy dreams of a nice afternoon spent on the water. Between numerous lakes and ponds, miles of river, and spots like Navy Pier on the shores of Lake Michigan, Illinoisians have plenty of ways to cool down during the hot summer.
Below are a few of our favorite items highlighting ways to enjoy the “dog days of summer” and beat the heat:
A Summer Afternoon – Long Lake, Illinois, P.O. Ingleside. M86.1.426. 1938. Created by C.R. Childs. Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. Lake County History in Postcards. Courtesy of the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. Drinks on the Quad – 1936. June 1936. University of St. Francis. Sharing Our Past, A Visual History. Courtesy of the University of St. Francis.Men and Women swimming in Lamoine River early 1900s. n.d. Western Illinois University. Digital Image Collection. Courtesy of Western Illinois University. Fire Department Early Water Fights. circa 1915. Huntley Area Public Library. Huntley Area History. Courtesy of the Huntley Area Public Library. Looking south on Quiver Beach Summer Resort, Havana, Ill. n.d. Published by Tarbill and Ermeling. Eastern Illinois University. Booth Library Postcard Collection. Courtesy of Eastern Illinois University. Fine Arts Summer Concerts. n.d. Park Ridge Public Library. Pieces of Park Ridge. Courtesy of the Park Ridge Public Library.
Want to see more?
Visit the IDHH to view even more items related to the dog days of summer.
It’s the middle of summer and with the warm weather and school vacations, it’s peak season for outdoor activities. This time of the year, kids in Chicago take advantage of the city’s more than 500 parks, over 90 of which are featured in the Chicago Public Library’s Chicago Park District Records Photographs collection.
What better way to keep cool during the summer heat than at the pool? Chicago’s parks boast more than 70 pools across the city, just three of which are pictured below. As these photos suggest, pools have been an integral part of outdoor summertime activities in Chicago at least since the turn of the twentieth century.
Riis Park (0123) Activities – Swimming. 1936-07-01. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records-Photographs collection. Permission to display was given by the Chicago Public Library.
Madden Park (0028) Activities – Swimming. 1976-07-27. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records-Photographs collection. Permission to display was given by the Chicago Public Library.
Armour Square Park (0003) Features. C.1905. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records-Photographs collection. Permission to display was given by the Chicago Public Library.
On cooler days or when kids would prefer to stay dry, there are the Chicago Park District’s more than 300 playgrounds around the city. Beyond the slides, swings, merry-go-rounds, and more unusual features, the playground has long been a central place for after-school and summertime activities.
Washington Park (0021) Features – Playgrounds. 1956-06-11. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records-Photographs collection. Permission to display was given by the Chicago Public Library.
Washington Park (0021) Features – Playgrounds – Bynum Adventure Playland. No date. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records-Photographs collection. Permission to display was given by the Chicago Public Library.
Avondale Park (0081) Features – Playgrounds. 1935-07-16. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records-Photographs collection. Permission to display was given by the Chicago Public Library.
The IDHH rings in the season of Summer featuring a remarkable Illinois outdoor attraction, courtesy of the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County.
Being a landlocked state, Illinois is not known for seaside attractions. Illinois is, however, home to one of the largest bodies of water in North America, Lake Michigan, along which sits the Illinois Beach State Park and the Illinois Beach and North Dunes Nature Preserves. Pictured below are images provided courtesy of the Dunn Museum’s Lake County History in Postcards. The location is just an hour’s drive north of Chicago.
Illinois Beach State Park, Zion, Illinois. 1950. Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County (IL). Illinois History in Postcards. Permission to display was given by Bess Bower Dunn Museum.
Illinois Beach State Park. 1960. Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County (IL). Illinois History in Postcards. Permission to display was given by Bess Bower Dunn Museum.
Illinois Beach Lodge, Illinois Beach State Park, Zion, Illinois. 1962. Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County (IL). Illinois History in Postcards. Permission to display was given by Bess Bower Dunn Museum.
Editors Note 03/2021: Postcards-Illinois is no longer a collection in IDHH.
This Spring, the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub celebrated the addition of forty collections from the Illinois Digital Archives to the DPLA. These collections include Postcards-Illinois from the Newberry Library. The collection includes nearly five thousand postcards, many of which feature Illinois’ beautiful State Parks, rivers, and shorelines, and other Summertime destinations, past and present.Postcards-Illinois is just a small subset of the Curt Teich Postcard Archives which comprises around 2.5 million items, probably the largest collection of postcards and related material in the United States. Originally donated by the Lake County Forest Preserve District, a large part of the Newberry’s collection is now searchable through the Digital Public Library of America’s interface which will provide even greater access to and awareness of the material than ever before.The items highlighted here seem particularly relevant for the month of August, including outdoor destinations from around Illinois and serve as encouragement to experience the places that inspired such beautiful imagery.
Shawnee National Forest, Southern Illinois. 1938. Newberry Library.The Glorydale Summer Resort on Kankakee River, Momence, IL. 1929. Newberry Library.Bathing Beach on Cedar Lake, between Lake Villa and Antioch, Illinois. 1949. Newberry Library.Picturesque Des Plaines River. 1964. Newberry Library.Tower Park -Tower Lakes Estates. 1927. Newberry Library.
You can access all of the above images and all other Newberry items in the IDHH.
