Indian summer
Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Indian summers are common in North America and Asia. The US National Weather Service defines this as weather conditions that are sunny and clear with above normal temperatures, occurring late-September to mid-November.[1] It is usually described as occurring after a killing frost.[1]
Etymology and usage[edit]
Late-19th century Boston lexicographer Albert Matthews made an exhaustive search of early American literature in an attempt to discover who coined the ｅxpression.[2] The earliest reference he found dated from 1851. He also found the phrase in a letter written in England in 1778, but discounted that as a coincidental use of the phrase.
Later research showed that the earliest known reference to Indian Summer in its current sense occurs in an essay written in the United States in the late 1770s (probably 1778) by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur. The letter was first published in French. The essay remained unavailable in the United States until the 1920s.[3]
Although the exact origins of the term are uncertain,[4] it was perhaps so-called because it was first noted in regions inhabited by Native Americans ("Indians"), or because the Native Americans first described it to Europeans,[5] or it had been based on the warm and hazy conditions in autumn when Native Americans hunted.[4]
In literature and history, the term is sometimes used metaphorically. The title of Van Wyck Brooks' New England: Indian Summer (1940) suggests an era of inconsistency, infertility, and depleted capabilities, a period of seemingly robust strength that is only an imitation of an earlier season of actual strength.[6] William Dean Howells' 1886 novel "Indian Summer" uses the term to mean a time when one may recover some of the happiness of youth. The main character, jilted as a young man, leads a solitary life until he rediscovers romance in early middle age.
In British English, the term is used in the same way as in North America. In the UK, observers knew of the American usage from the mid-19th century onwards, and The Indian Summer of a Forsyte is the metaphorical title of the 1918 second volume of The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy. However, early 20th-century climatologists Gordon Manley and Hubert Lamb used it only when referring to the American phenomenon, and the ｅxpression did not gain wide currency in Great Britain until the 1950s. In former times such a period was associated with the autumn feast days of St. Martin and Saint Luke.[7]
Similar phenomena[edit]
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Similar weather conditions, with local variations also exist. A warm period in autumn is called "Altweibersommer" (de: "old women's summer") in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Hungary, Estonia (Estonian: vananaistesuvi), Finland,[8] and in a number of Slavic-language countries—for example, in Poland, Russia, Serbia, and Croatia—it is known as "old woman's summer" (Polish: babie lato, Russian: бабье лето, IPA: [babje ljeto], Croatian: bablje ljeto). In Bulgaria, it is known as "gypsy summer" or "poor man's summer". In Sweden, there's "Brittsommar" (out of "Birgitta" and "Britta", having their name days around the time). In Gaelic Ireland, the phenomenon is called "fómhar beag na ngéanna" (little autumn of the geese).[9]
In temperate parts of South America—such as southernmost Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay—the phenomenon is known as "Veranico", "Veranito" or "Veranillo" (literally, "little summer"), and usually occurs in early autumn between late April and mid-May, when it is known as "Veranico de Mayo" ("May's little summer") or as "Veranito de San Juan" ("Saint John's little summer"). Its onset and duration are directly associated with the occurrence of El Niño.
In other countries it is associated with autumnal name days or saint days such as Teresa of Ávila (Portugal, Spain and France), St. Martin's Summer (Catalonia, France, Italy and Portugal), Michaelmas summer (Serbia and Republika Srpska), St. Martin's Day (Netherlands), Bridget of Sweden in Sweden, and Saint Michael the Archangel in Wales. In Turkey it is called pastirma yazı, meaning pastrami summer, since the month of November was considered to be the best time to make pastrami.[10]
In media[edit]
Board games[edit]
- Indian Summer, designed by Uwe Rosenberg, is named and themed after the event, and involves players placing leaf-filled tiles on the forest floor.
Books[edit]
- Engine Summer by John Crowley is named after and references the event, with the spelling changed to reflect the post-apocalyptic setting of the book.
Comics[edit]
- Injun summer, John T. McCutcheon, Chicago Tribune, September 30, 1907
Music[edit]
- Victor Herbert composed the song "Indian Summer" in 1919.
- It was a number one hit for Tommy Dorsey's orchestra in 1939.
- It was recorded by Frank Sinatra on his album with Duke Ellington, Francis A, and Edward K., in 1968.
- It was recorded by Tony Bennett for his Frank Sinatra tribute album, "Perfectly Frank," in 1992.
- In 1969, Brewer & Shipley recorded ″Indian Summer″ for their ″Weeds″ album.
- In 1970 The Doors recorded ″Indian Summer″.
- In 1975, Joe Dassin recorded "Indian Summer" in French, English, Spanish and German. "L'Été indien" went on to become Dassin's biggest hit, selling almost 2 million copies worldwide.
- In 1977 Poco released the album, Indian Summer, which also contained the title track.
- In 1978 Joe Walsh recorded "Indian Summer" for the album But Seriously, Folks....
- In 1985 Larry Gatlin, Roy Orbison, and Barry Gibb released "Indian Summer"
- U2 included "Indian Summer Sky" on their The Unforgettable Fire album.
- The Dream Academy recorded the song "Indian Summer" for the album Remembrance Days in 1987.
- In 1988 Beat Happening released "Indian Summer" on their album "Jamboree".
- Go West released an album Indian Summer in the 90's
- Pedro the Lion released "Indian Summer" on their Control album in 2002.
- Tori Amos featured a song of the same name in her 2004 EP Scarlet's Hidden Treasures.
- In 2007 jazz pianist Dave Brubeck released an album called "Indian Summer."
- In 2007 Manic Street Preachers released "Indian Summer" the third single released from their eighth studio album Send Away the Tigers
- In 2009, country duo Brooks and Dunn released a single, "Indian Summer.
- In 2011 Loaded (sometimes called Duff McKagan's Loaded) released "Indian Summer" on the album called The Taking
- In 2013 Stereophonics released "Indian Summer" as the second single from their eighth studio album Graffiti on the Train
- In 2014, Tyler Hilton released the album Indian Summer, which also contained the title track.
- In 2015, Jai Wolf released the single "Indian Summer" from Foreign Family Collective.[11]
Movies and Television[edit]
- In the 1995 movie Die Hard With A Vengeance, Bruce Willis as John McClane references the phenomenon in order to verify that the policemen he is speaking with are actually European imposters with convincing accents.
- Mad Men Season 1, Episode 11 makes reference to Indian Summer calling that episode with the same name.
- Indian Summer is a 1993 comedy drama film written and directed by Mike Binder.
Poetry[edit]
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, 'Hiawatha', 1855 mentions "the tender Indian Summer"
- William Wilfred Campbell's poem Indian Summer.