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+---
+title: Life Before Air Conditioning
+date: 2007-09-23T14:50:07Z
+source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/16842/life-air-conditioning
+tags: history, culture, society, sociology, psychology, community, environment
+
+---
+
+How in the world did people deal with the summer heat without air
+conditioning? Lots of ways, both time-tested and experimental.
+
+Cooling homes was not the intended purpose when [Willis
+Carrier](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1eVlGwAms) invented modern
+[air
+conditioning](http://www.corp.carrier.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4455d66bdcb08010VgnVCM100000cb890b80RCRD&cpsextcurrchannel=1)
+in 1902. The earliest air conditioners were for industrial quality
+control; the comfort of the workers was incidental. However, artificial
+climate control made [steel and glass
+skyscrapers](http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/725.shtml)
+practical. Home air conditioning became widely available after World War
+II and ushered in the age of [suburban tract
+housing](http://www.eweek.org/site/news/Features/staycool.shtml). It
+also spelled the demise of some old-fashioned architectual details and
+social customs.
+
+![435\_Victorian\_House.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435_Victorian_House.jpg)
+
+A look at some of these architectual details, after the jump.
+
+The oldest method of home climate control is living underground. Our
+cave-dwelling ancestors enjoyed temperatures in the 50s both summer and
+winter. This dugout house found at
+[Shorpy](http://www.shorpy.com/node/1536) was both inexpensive to build
+(but labor-intensive) and cool in the summer. Although no one wants to
+live in a pit, this method of cooling survived in the use of deep
+spacious basements, split-level homes, and houses built into a hillside.
+The lower levels stayed much cooler than modern homes.
+
+![435\_dugouthouse.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435_dugouthouse.jpg)
+
+Underground level climate control is [still in
+use](http://enterthelaughter.com/blog/2007/07/13/cave-boy-and-the-goblet-of-squid/),
+as we see in the extensive underground workplace called
+[Subtropolis](http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html). More
+new buildings are constructed underground, or [partially
+buried](http://www.subsurfacebuildings.com/UnderGroundbutNotUnderground.html),
+every year.
+
+![435partiallyburied.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435partiallyburied.jpg)
+
+The effect of cave living was somewhat duplicated by the use of thick
+stone, adobe, or traditional brick outer walls. Air conditioning allows
+the use of cheaper and lighter materials. Thirty years ago, it was
+unheard of to cancel school due to heat. My school had [no air
+conditioning](http://www.conspairacy.com/..%5CMainthemes%5CCEILINGS.HTML),
+but it had thick brick walls, [high
+ceilings](http://www.conspairacy.com/..%5Cmainthemes%5Cwhyhigh.html),
+[transoms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window#Transom_window), ceiling
+fans, and if all else failed, plenty of trees outside to hold classes
+under. We also walked six miles, uphill both ways. That building is
+still there, although the school has moved to a new climate-controlled
+facility. The school pictured is in [Hendricks,
+Minnesota](http://www.hendricksmn.com/hendricks_postcards.html), but
+resembles the school I attended.
+
+![435\_school\_1b.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435_school_1b.jpg)
+
+Rooms with high ceilings benefit from the tendency of heat to rise. If
+heat gathers in the top third of a room, then a ten-foot ceiling will
+make a room relatively cooler for most people. Ceiling fans accentuate
+the effect by pulling air up during the summer, and pushing warmer air
+down in the winter. Older homes with more than one story took advantage
+of the [stack effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_effect), as
+open stairwells vented heat upstairs. That's why upper floors were [only
+used at night](http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07214/806268-155.stm),
+with the windows open. Some houses even had a tower or turret to act as
+a [windcatcher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher) or heat
+exhaust vent.
+
+![435\_ceilingfans.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435_ceilingfans.jpg)
+
+Shade trees planted on the east and west sides of a home [block the
+summer sun](http://oikos.com/esb/34/shading.html) before it warms the
+home exterior. They also cool down breezes slightly before they enter
+[the porch
+area](http://architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/people_benachihouse.html).
+Awnings and window overhangs provide the same effect, and let more
+sunshine in during the winter, when the sun hangs lower.
+
+![435\_shadetrees.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435_shadetrees.jpg)
+
+The [front
+porch](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/cook/cultur.htm)
+was an alternative to hot homes, and became a means of social
+interaction. If you weren't sitting on your own porch in the cool of the
+evening, you could stroll the neighborhood and visit other familes
+sitting on *their* porch.
+
+![435\_porch9.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435_porch9.jpg)
+
+On hot nights, the porch was a cooler place to sleep. Apartment dwellers
+would sleep on the fire escape when it was unbearably hot indoors. The
+widespread use of the [automobile, television, and air
+conditioning](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/cook/decline.htm)
+killed the front porch as a social institution.
+
+![435viewfromporch.jpg](http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/435viewfromporch.jpg)
+
+People had other personal methods for keeping cool, such as hanging wet
+laundry in doorways, sleeping in refrigerated sheets, and keeping one's
+[underwear in the
+freezer](http://community.livejournal.com/iceboxundies/profile).
+
+Years ago when air conditioning wasn't universal, we *were* sometimes
+miserably hot. But "miserable"? is a relative term. We didn't know what
+we were missing, and [we were used to
+it](http://www.wisebread.com/living-without-air-conditioning-can-save-big-bucks-this-summer).
+We were never as miserable as someone in a small modern home built for
+artificial climate control when the air conditioner fails!