« Hot as a dog?! »

Although Dairy Queen would prefer that you believe that "the dog days of summer" is a reference to the American fascination of consuming hot dogs during summer, it's just marketing hype. As I wolfed down my recent chili cheese dog, I noticed that DQ's packaging told the story: "Dog Days of Summer = Love of Hot Dogs". Albeit accurate in consumption statistics, its a bit far from the truth.

In 2010, consumers will spend more than 1.7 billion dollars on hot dogs and sausages in US supermarkets. On Independence Day, Americans will enjoy 150 million hot dogs. During "hot dog season", Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans typically consume 7 billion hot dogs or 818 hot dogs every second.  While you just read this -- over 27,500 hot dogs were sucked down by Americans.

In reality "Dog Days" are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and early September. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather. The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major [aka Large Dog]. Sirius is also the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun. The term "Dog Days" was used earlier by the Greeks as well.

Why is it always about the Roman and Greeks?

In Ancient Rome, the Dog Days extended from July 24 through August 24. In many European cultures this period is still said to be the time of the Dog Days.

The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the ancient heliacal rising of the Dog Star [Sirius]. These are also the days of the year when rainfall is at its lowest levels.

According to The Book of Common Prayer [not that I would know it], the "Dog Daies" begin on July 6 and end on August 17.

So here's to the real "dog days of summer" coming to a close. Except for us Floridians, who get the "foot long" version until October.

I guess all of this wouldn't have fit on that hot dog wrapper anyway. Besides, during the same time DQ customers would have taken to read this, we all would have eaten almost 120,000 hot dogs in just under two minutes.

We have to keep our priorities straight after all.