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I grew up in MA and I remember it being kind of hot trying to sleep sometimes, but nothing really bad. Now I live in GA, and I cannot believe the state was even inhabited before AC.
I grew up in MA and I remember it being kind of hot trying to sleep sometimes, but nothing really bad. Now I live in GA, and I cannot believe the state was even inhabited before AC.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I'm not a senior, but I grew up without A/C. My grandparents and parents did not believe in it. This was in Maryland. Our house was unbearably hot. Summers were truly miserable for me at my parents' house. We would take cold showers before bed and use fans, but we'd always sweat all night. Days were spent looking anywhere that had air conditioning: library, mall, restaurant, etc.
My grandparents' house wasn't nearly as hot. Their house was solid brick (my grandpa built it) and had a basement. The basement was always comfortable, but even the upstairs was okay. They also had these large window fans that created a cross breeze.
As soon as I could move out, I did. And I made sure the place had a/c.
We can always pick out the tourists. They are the ones who are shivering in their shorts and tee shirts taking pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower. They didn't realize that the summer heat and humidity they live in are not found everywhere. Admittedly, what I describe is found in a fairly narrow strip along the coast. Go inland here and it's 90+ (often way plus) most days in the summer. But it's a dry heat.
Here in Savannah, I am constantly amazed at the number of people who wear jackets or sweatshirts in the summer. I, as a former northerner, cannot even leave my house in the summer, and when I do, I stay as naked as humanly possible.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s on the south shore of Lake Erie, so stiflingly hot days were rare. Either that, or I just don't remember or didn't care because kids just don't care about that stuff.
My parents didn't install air conditioning until sometime in the late 80s. We didn't even have window fans. The double hung windows were open at the top and bottom.
The house was shaded by several trees on the west and south sides of the property, which helped shade the bedrooms.
If it was horribly hot, my dad would turn the furnace fan on to bring cool air up from the basement.
We had a 30-inch pool, and used the sprinkler a lot to get wet. If we weren't swimming, we'd go to the library, which had two-foot thick stone walls, and was surrounded by huge trees.
My favorite house was a little ranch just like you describe. The living room faced south with a big maple tree. So in the summer all that sun was shaded. In the winter it got as much light as there was to get. There was a screened in porch on the back north side with a maple to the west and part of the garage was the east wall - so as cool as it could be barring ambient air temp. It had a huge suck out all the air whole house fan which was good for night times when the temp dropped. Plus I would close all the drapes in the morning and shut the windows to keep in the cooler night air. I bought it in the early 90s and did put in ac after a few years. But except for about 3 or 4 weeks, the "dog days" in July early Aug it worked pretty well. I LOVED that house.
My mother had a an old bought used stove in the basement to use in summer, in lieu of the old outside farm kitchens.
When I was little I remember having trouble sleeping at night sometimes because it was too hot, again mostly just the dog days. There was basement sleeping then. But I don't remember it being too bad otherwise. We would run in the sprinkler most days. And of course fans in all the windows.
Nowdays with all the drought those sprinker/hose days wouldn't be an option.
Many older farm style and victorian houses can't be retrofit with whole house a/c. My nephew lives in one. They have a window a/c unit for the upstairs bedroom area but the rest of the day they just do without. Thankfully they do have some shade trees. His tractor cab is probably more comfortable than the family at home during the day
My mother's house has a boiler with hot water heat and she never popped for running a/c ducting. She used a window a/c and stuck to that room as much as possible. She recently died and we rent it now, so those rentors don't have central air. This is southern MI
I think I read somewhere once that if you are routinely in warm weather your capillaries will somehow? move closer to your skin so your blood/body can give off more heat - this is what they mean by acclimating. The reverse happens when exposed to cold for long periods to preserve heat. Not sure if this is true but it sounds reasonable.
I believe something like that has to be true.
I noticed in my early 50's that my body was no longer acclimating to the summer heat like it used to.
'Before' people had air conditioning, they didn't sit around figuring-out what to do 'until A/C was finally invented and available.' -- same with every other life-changing invention throughout history.
Perhaps in the future, people will have personal A/C systems to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. But, until or unless something like that happens, people will just keep coping with what we have now, without knowing the difference.
My parents didn't install air conditioning until sometime in the late 80s. We didn't even have window fans. The double hung windows were open at the top and bottom.
Oh yeah, those windows that would open not only on the bottom but at the top too. You were supposed to open the top to let the heat OUT (heat rises) and at the bottom to let the cool air in.
In school it was no problem in the earlier grades because the schools were old and had tall windows that opened (can't remember how) and also had some sort of shade that the teacher could pull down, I think. But our high school was one of those new, modern, flat roofed things with huge windows all over the place. Windows that only opened with a narrow slanted panel at the very bottom. The heat just blasted in.
Girls were required to wear dresses and nylons, no sandals. The boys had to wear nice pants and decent button type shirts. By June it was impossible to pay attention. The sweat was dripping off and the books and papers were even drenched in sweat.
It's funny how many of us escaped to the library and read books during the summer to stay cool. (Maybe that's how we got so smart?)
I remember some really hot days at college--late August to mid September or so. My roommate and I each had a little oscillating fan and a spray bottle of water. We'd spray our faces and arms then, when the fan "passed by," we'd both go, Ahhhhhh...... Then we'd laugh.
It felt so good! Boy does that bring back memories.
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