It reminded me of when I was a kid and pretty much no one we knew had air conditioning, we sure didn't. My grandparents were dairy farmers in central NC and never had AC. When my grandfather died in 1986 that house still didn't have AC. I would spend my summers there in the 1960s through the late 1970s and visit often. Even on hot days I never remember suffering. They would open windows and doors and run a big fan at the front door to draw air through the house. They also had big oak trees to block the sun in the later part of the day, and a big front porch. I do remember that the attic in that house was hotter than the hinges of hell in the summer.
We lived in three different houses that didn't have air. I remember that we got our first window unit in 1971. That was awesomeness. We would be out playing hard and come in and sit right in front of that AC unit. We could have lived without it but, it sure was nice on a hot and humid day.
My first car didn't have AC (1973 VW beetle). I remember riding in cars pretty much all of my childhood that didn't have AC.
It seems to me that these days AC is not optional for anyone. I try to get out in the heat in the spring summer and cold in the fall winter so that I don't suffer when the temps are within a narrow band. If the power goes out when it gets really hot a whole lot of people will be in trouble. Sure, people died from the heat back in the day, and they were accustomed to it.
I didn't go to an air conditioned school all the way through high school. I also don't remember the school being closed because it was hot outside. They just opened all the windows.
I work at a place now where people talk like they are really suffering just walking from an air conditioned car to an air conditioned building.
Just remembering the days when very few people had air conditioning. It wasn't that bad as I recall. A lot of it is mental I think.
Life before Air Conditioning..
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