How did people get through the Texas heat before there was A/C? (Dallas: home, transfer)

[SVTRay]

We didn't get AC in our house until the late 90's. I sold off an old truck I wasn't using and bought a window unit. Before that it was fan city. I would run a box fan in my bedroom and place a damp towl behind it.

[texan55]

Originally Posted by goodtymes70

History of Texas....Santa Ana the former great leader of Mexico wanted to settle Texas with Mexicans to use as a Buffer Zone between Mexico and the United States. Santa Ana created incentives for Mexicans to move to Texas, most Mexicans that moved to Texas stayed only a short time...cold winters very hot summers made living in Texas difficult. All they could do was take siestas in the afternoon hours and do their work early and later and have recreation time at night.

straight out of a 1950's text book. 'Merica hell yeah!

[augiedogie]

Interesting thread. Thanks for all the info, having been raised in Wisconsin, I've often wondered how anyone could live in this climate without AC. Makes me homesick too. Maybe I'll retire right next to Lake Michigan. Our first house was only 300 yards from it, and we never even needed AC.

[elan]

Originally Posted by debzkidz

It also helped that most houses before a/c were not built on concrete slabs. Houses had crawl spaces underneath with vents along the ground, so air could flow under the house, helping to keep it cooler. My grandmothers house in Dallas was like this. She had an attic fan, to pull the hot air out and a couple of window units. As a kid, I thought she was rich because she had those window units! It had awnings over the windows, big tress all around, and the driveway next to the house was only 2 concrete strips wide enough for the tires to go over. The rest of it was just grass. It was always nice and cool in her house. Much cooler than our un-airconditioned tract house in the suburbs.

Those big attic fans were fantastic, I can still remember the slight rumble they made.

[unseengundam]

Originally Posted by stan4

You know, there are hotter places in the world than Texas, and they STILL don't use a/c.

Yeah, I actually grew up in such place, Bangladesh. I think they still don't use AC much because of energy cost and I definitely wouldn't want go back there to live.

Originally Posted by PullMyFinger

Interesting thread. I grew up in Minnesota so saw very few of these very hot days. But we had no AC when I was a kid. I remember our house had extra long overhangs on the roof with a 4 sided design so most of the upstairs windows were shaded all day. We used to stay outside most of the day as it was a farm. My Dad installed a whole house fan in the upstairs and would turn that on at night when we went to bed. It was installed in the hallway and vented directly through the roof. I remember it moved a lot of air, the curtains in the windows would suck in a good 6 inches from the air coming in. A lot of heat was exhausted out of the house that way because USUALLY Minnesota nights cool off, but there was some awful ones I remember too.

My understanding of the south is that the population has exploded since the advent of AC. I would think life in Vegas would be almost impossible without AC.

That is exactly what I have been thinking. Due A/C conform people are more willing to move hotter areas in United States. I have second though about moving to Texas from Missouri, if there wasn't AC!

Las Vegas is great example, since it is a tourist destination in the middle of desert. Who seriously would want to take vacation to relax in the 100-110 degree summer heat in Vegas without A/C?

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by unseengundam

Wow, that is interesting information. Most of houses building last few decades in Dallas seemed have been designed with AC in mind. More example, 2 years back my AC broke during summer and the house felt like boiling pot! I guess people also do get used to heat, I don't think I mind as much as I used few years back when I moved to Texas.





Yep, I am surprised these great ideas to keep places cool were done away with. I hate walking through concrete downtown in the heat! Canopies doesn't seem like it would be expensive to put in, but guess people don't bother about it anymore these days.



Thats good information on South Oak Cliff High School's design! I don't think I have seen such design to handle heat in any of school I been too. And defintely not in any of new school out in the DFW suburbs! If they lost A/C, I bet they would have shutdown the schools these days!

In middle school I went to a school that was about 80 years old. When the A/C went out we simply opened the windows facing the courtyard, it helped cool down the building but when I went to high school it was hell! The high school I went to was brand new. The windows were huge but only a small part about the size of a tablet could open (just picture a floor to ceiling window but only a small potion of it could open) Only the windows in the classroom could open, that made it even worse. There was no kind of ventilation going through the building. The whole building was hot and humid. Thank God that the A/C was fixed the next day.

Here's my former high school.

You can see the small openings on the huge windows

(these are not my pictures)



Here's the main area of the school



Here's a classroom. You can only see a small potion of the window

[Vector28]

Originally Posted by elan

Those big attic fans were fantastic, I can still remember the slight rumble they made.

Yeah buddy - ours changed tones randomly and they were virtually hypnotic. Sleep was almost instantaneous. Ours was a big one - 4 or 5 foot diameter and was housed in a big boxlike structure Dad built in the attic over a central hallway.

Of course we had many of the things others have mentioned. Rooms lined with windows, wide overhangs, post and beam foundation, shade trees, and a good orientation. Even though we were west of San Antonio it was too humid for a swamp box. It would cool you a little but the added humidity wasn't comfortable.

I've heard stories about how the old timers would camp all around their farm/ranch at various times of the year to determine the best location for their permanent house.

[TXNGL]

One thing, back in the "old days" in Texas and in the South in general, people slowed down in the heat and had afternoon rest times. When I see transplants from the North rushing around in the summer, I want to tell them to slow down or they're going to have a heat stroke!

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Not sure this has anything to do with Texas, as when we were in Mexico, that was the pattern, and that's also the pattern in Spain, I'm told.

Greece also. Businesses close for several hours in the afternoon and then open up again for the evening. They don't call it siesta time, obviously, but it's the same concept.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by marcopolo2000

Personally, I don't remember it "feeling" as hot as it does now. We used to play outside all day during the summers but now, its pretty harsh out there.

We did too, but I remember my parents complaining about the heat. I think it's an "old" thing.