Life Before Air Conditioning

Photo: Caitlinator
What was life like before air conditioning? A writer recalls...

In the 1940s and 1950s, with the thermometer reaching the 90s, you’d get off the bus in downtown Anderson (bus windows usually were open to capture whatever breeze there was) and head for the nearest dime, drug or department store. The doors would be propped wide open, and when you entered you’d notice giant ceiling fans rotating lazily to stir up the stagnant air as customers and clerks alike mopped their brows to wipe off the perspiration.

Few public buildings had air conditioning. Many church buildings equipped their hymnal racks with cardboard fans, and parishioners hoped the preachers would keep their sermons short.

Air conditioning was unheard of in schools.

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I'm old enough to remember the drug store in downtown Tallahassee promoting the fact it was air conditioned, courtesy of Kool cigarettes.

"Come in. It's Kool inside," proclaimed stickers on the door.

Some of my friends lived in homes lacking central air conditioning. We tended to cluster in the small TV room with a window rattler during the summer.

Today, air conditioning is a necessity, not a luxury. Yet, for many Americans air conditioning is becoming less affordable. As the government imposes mandates over fear of ozone depletion and the quixotic quest for ever higher efficiencies, no matter how lengthy the payback, some Americans may find themselves returning to the days of window rattlers in the bedrooms and family room during the summer months.

And this is progress?