Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> On 10/4/2018 10:41 PM, Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> > On Thu 04 Oct 2018 05:15:27p, Ed Pawlowski told us...
> >
> >> On 10/4/2018 11:22 AM, jmcquown wrote:
> >>> On 10/2/2018 1:50 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> >>
> >>>>
> >>>> I spend most of January/February here hiding from the snow and
> >>>> cold. Down there I expect to hide in the house with the AC for
> >>>> July/August. At least there will be sunshine.
> >>>
> >>> Ed, unless you're comfortable with 80°F temps, you should expect
> >>> to spend time inside with AC from late May until some time in
> >>> October.
> >>>
> >>> It's still 88-90°F in the afternoons here in southern SC.ÂÂ* It's
> >>> not yet cool enough (for me) to not use the AC.ÂÂ* Then again, I
> >>> prefer 71F.
> >>>
> >>> Jill
> >>
> >> I'm ok to at least 90. I can take brief periods higher. When I
> >> was working, our plant used steam in the process so it was always
> >> 15+ degrees hotter than outside. I spent half my day out there
> >> and the boiler room to do testing, even hotter. Of course, my
> >> wife likes it cooler.
> >>
> >
> > For as long as I can remember until I was out of college my dad was a
> > VP in the HVAC division of York Corp. As a consequence I can't remember
> > a time when we didn't have central air conditioning and forced air
> > heating in every house we lived in. My dad believed in maintaining 72F
> > throughout the year. I was spoiled by this, and I never wanted to go
> > to anyone's home that didn't have A/C. :-)
> > AC is one of the great inventions of modern times. My parents bought
> one that did the entire downstairs of our house. That was in the 1950s.
> We slept in the living room on hot nights. Since that time, I spent
> maybe one summer without AC in at least the bedroom.
>
> I don't know how people survived years ago in the cities.


On really insufferable nights they'd sleep on their fire escapes or roofs, or even out in the parks if those options were available...in Chicago they'd go out to the lakeside and camp for the night. I've also read that every summer in NYC some peeps during the night would roll off of those fire escapes or roofs, sustaining injuries or death.

Movies were packed as movie houses had A/C, millions would pack a place like Jones Beach, pools, those who could afford it sent the fam off to the cooler countryside, e.g. the Catskills, SW Michigan for Chicagoans, etc...

You look at old films or pix of summer in the city during those days, and many simply lived out on the streets, kids around fire hydrants, people on stoops and porches, etc. By the late 40's that streetscape began to change a bit, corner bars were big buyers of the first room air conditioners, the adults at least could retire to the groggery for some cool comfort, and they could also watch sports on that brand new miracle device, a television set.