Michael from Jones, Michigan, says he was stationed on a U.S. Army base in Germany in the early 1960s. If there was a gust of cold wind, a fellow soldier would say the hawk’s out. This expression is largely associated with Chicago, Illinois, where the Hawk refers to the frigid wind coming off of Lake Michigan and the bear is sometimes used to mean “bitter cold.” As early as the 1870s, the terms Hawkins, and Old Hawkins, and Old Mr. Hawkins were applied to “cold weather.” The idea may have been reinforced by the fact that in the 1930s, jazz musician Coleman Hawkins blew the saxophone and was nicknamed the Hawk. This is part of a complete episode.
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