I was there and I remember. If you were lucky you had a fan. Darn hard to fit a family of seven in front of one fan. On hot nights, we kids slept on our bedroom floor that was tiled. When one spot got too hot we rolled to another spot.
My mom used to tell us about living in Chicago when she was little. During bad heat people slept on the rooftops and fire escapes or in the parks or on the beach.
We used to open the windows before the sun came up to bring in as much cool air as possible and shut them again before the REAL heat started. Then we'd shut the drapes and even put blankets over them to keep the sun and heat out.
If you had enough money you could buy a block of ice to put in front of your fan. Sometimes we took turns fanning each other with handmade fans.
As a kid I had some really great options. There was a ravine with a forest and a creek in back of our house. You could feel the air temperature drop by at least ten degrees when you went into the woods and the creek was great for wading and cooling off. Going down in the musty basement was also a way to cool off a bit.
They wallowed in a mud hole like a hippo!
Well, I would have done that anyway.
Actually I have lived in some pretty hot places with no air conditioning. Not much you can do, just wait for the heat to break.
Good question! I live in the Deep South and could not live without A/C! When the power goes out down here, I'm reduced to a sniveling pile of protoplasm!
In the "old days" houses were built with high ceilings and elevated above the ground to allow for air circulation. The wealthier citizens of the South probably sat in the shade drinking mint juleps, with being fanned by one of their slaves.
All in all, people were probably tougher back then. We've been spoiled by modern conveniences. Makes me wonder what would happen in the event of an electromagnetic pulse attack on the power grid.
They dealt with the heat.Maybe bought a fan.I did a bath remodel in an old FL home that never had central air .They were dropping the ceilings in the hallways to allow for ducts.
it was really good i believe. air conditioning and all the machines and technology derstoyed the system. that's why the sun burns us this year. ok other years was hot but this year? REALLY BURNS! :p
Now, I cannot imagine it. We had no A/C when I was a kid in the 1950's but it was miserable in South Texas back then. Finally, we had a window unit in two rooms.
My mom used to tell us about living in Chicago when she was little. During bad heat people slept on the rooftops and fire escapes or in the parks or on the beach.
We used to open the windows before the sun came up to bring in as much cool air as possible and shut them again before the REAL heat started. Then we'd shut the drapes and even put blankets over them to keep the sun and heat out.
If you had enough money you could buy a block of ice to put in front of your fan. Sometimes we took turns fanning each other with handmade fans.
As a kid I had some really great options. There was a ravine with a forest and a creek in back of our house. You could feel the air temperature drop by at least ten degrees when you went into the woods and the creek was great for wading and cooling off. Going down in the musty basement was also a way to cool off a bit.
Well, I would have done that anyway.
Actually I have lived in some pretty hot places with no air conditioning. Not much you can do, just wait for the heat to break.
In the "old days" houses were built with high ceilings and elevated above the ground to allow for air circulation. The wealthier citizens of the South probably sat in the shade drinking mint juleps, with being fanned by one of their slaves.
All in all, people were probably tougher back then. We've been spoiled by modern conveniences. Makes me wonder what would happen in the event of an electromagnetic pulse attack on the power grid.
?