Who grew up w/o A/C at home??? (Austin: low income, new home)

[loves2read]

I grew up in central TX area around Seguin--New Braunfels (which was certainly not the happening spot it is now) more than 50 years ago...
little frame house--NO A/C until I had starte to college and my parents bought a room A/C....

how many people grew up in TX w/o A/C (guess there are still people doing w/o today--just more reduced economics)....

do you think people who grew up in un A/C enviornment are better able to stand heat and live w/o A/C????
My kids were raised in central heat/air here in N. TX

My daughter lives in FL--south of Sarasota close to the Gulf --so she has windows open a lot--but she also likes her A/C
but my son who lives in Lewisville--probably would not think of doing that--but he lives in apt still--and I think that environment does not always lend itself to opening windows...

I find that restaurants/malls/movie theaters--even hospitals and drs offices--can have the COLDEST temps--when there is NO reason for them to be jacked up so high--when many people are having trouble just using the A/C because of their electric bills--not talking about me but senior citizens and people with low incomes who need A/C for medical reasons...

[loves2read]

I posted on Fort Worth board with a poll--so if you are interested in replying please check that out
and I hope the Admins don't delete it

[TexasHorseLady]

We didn't have A/C when I was first growing up - got it in a new home when I was about 8 - but I remember taking naps with the fan in the window when I was young, and I can still be soothed to sleep by the sound of a fan.

I tried to make a point not to get my little ones addicted to AC when they were growing up, because I didn't want them to NEED A/C, just appreciate it.

And, yes, it is way too cold in grocery stores and theaters these days.

[loves2read]

go to the FTW board and do the poll -- thanks for the reply

[love roses]

We had AC in our house when I was growing up, but my babysitter (aka my other mom ) didn't, so like THL, am soothed by the sound of fans in the window . She also left the front and back doors open to let breeze blow through.

[GayleTX]

We got a refrigerated window unit when I was about 12, I think, but it was just for one room. My dad thought that was the grandest investion ever....he'd come in from the field, strip down to his boxers. lean back in his recliner and suck in all the cold air he could.

And, you're right, the retail places are all much too cold but I still get clammy in them if there's no fan stirring the air.....fans make the A/C feel so much better and save lots of electricity.

[jpbpds]

I grew up in Austin in the 60s in a small suburban ranch-style house (my mother called it a crackerbox) without air conditioning. We had cement floors covered with linoleum tile and during the summer it was good to lay on the floor and read a book. My dad installed a swamp cooler but it mostly cooled the kitchen and not much of anywhere else. They put in central air in 1974 when I was a senior in high school. Summers seemed to be lazier then -- my mother did not work and we looked forward to sitting on the couch and watching the Match Game at 3 p.m. I rode my bike to the library and enjoyed spending the afternoon there in the air conditioning. Going to the movies was also a bigger luxury since it was cool and dark in there out of the hot sun.
Fast forward to today... my house has an Central AC unit for upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs unit compressor went out and it was 92 degrees upstairs. We slept downstairs in the living room until it got fixed -- at $1600, an expensive comfort item.

[loves2read]

I was in TX during the dought of the 50s--the one visualized so memorably in Hud--
and it was hot then too--

library was too far to go--we lived in small town about 12 mi away and my mom believe it or not did not drive--no way to get there--my dad worked 6 full days a week back then...
but yes--can remember when the stores in town added A/C and the movie theater---was really a treat to go there...
our church did not get it until sometime in the late 60s or early 70s--so we would swealter sometimes during the service...

[teatime]

I didn't grow up in Texas -- I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Back then, the summers did get rather hot and some people had room air conditioners. That was considered luxury back then! We didn't have one -- we relied on fans and breezes, LOL.

Then, a few elderly neighbors who had health problems got central air. It was almost unheard of back then! When my parents became elderly, the summers turned rainy and rather chilly.

I'm disabled and on a very fixed income so I have to use the central air sparingly. I open the windows, use ceiling and tower fans, plus my evaporative cooler. But, on days like today (it's 97 degrees right now), you HAVE to use the AC.

[loves2read]

I am at home right now and have my A/C turned off--it ran last night because my husband was hot--but I turned it off this orning when he left for work
don't have any windows open and it is not that hot in this north facing bedroom where I hve my computer...
is it really 97?