It Was Hot!
Can you imagine taking a 1,000 mile trip in the hottest months of the summer and through the hottest part of the country without air conditioning in your car? We did that many times back in the olden days before air conditioning became available.We made the trip from Indiana to Texas many times before we had an air conditioned car. Some of that time we had children traveling with us. Most of the time we went when the children were out of school, usually in July or August, when it was extremely hot in Texas and in the several other southern states between Indiana and Texas. Traveling at night would have made more sense because it would have been cooler then. But we did it during the day because that was when the children were used to being awake.
We would get windburn from the wind blowing into the car with the windows open. It was impossible to ride with windows closed because of the heat. Many times we would stop for a bag of ice and use it to rub on our faces and arms. We always had a gallon thermos of water in the car and we would drink all of it before the trip was over and sometimes even stopped for refills.
Somewhere around 1960, or near then, we finally had an air conditioner installed in our car. It was a huge monstrosity which took up most of the foot room in the front seat of the car, but it was a good cooling system. We managed with that until about the late 60's when we splurged and bought a car with the already installed air conditioner. What a joy!
Our trips became luxurious after that. We never knew what we were missing until we moved on up!
These days we all take cool air for granted when we get into our cars and go somewhere. But let me tell you, it has not always been so. I really appreciate my air now when I go somewhere in the hot summer time, and then I remember those long hot trips we used to make without it!
posted by kyra lafain @ 5/30/2008 12:30:00 PM
4 Comments:
I remember summers in Texas with only box fans or oscillating fans. Of course, at night we had to sleep with all the windows open. It wasn't so dangerous then. Now we have to lock everything up. I remember when I was about 5, we got a window cooler. You hooked the water up to it and the water circulated through filters to cool the air. Everything in the house would swell up from the humidity, and the filters smelled like fish, but it did offer more relief than the other fans. I have to use my a/c now in the summertime, but I still like to leave my windows open during the day if the temp is 85 or less. There's just something about that fresh air in the house that I love.
Your blog reminded me of the trips to Sulphur Springs we used to take with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a huge ordeal and you would think that we were traveling to a far-off destination rather than a 40-mile trip! Grandma would always take a huge jar of ice water, snacks, and wet rags to help keep cool with. As a child I remember thinking that SS was such a long way off....of course with Grandpa driving about 15 mph....it did take a while to get there!! nh
NH I love your comment! I remember you all talking about those long road trips to SS. It probably was close to a 1-2 hour trip!
I also remember my house smelling like fish when we rturned the window cooler on. It also made your hair frizzy!
You knew my mother and Dad about as well as I did! I remember exactly what you were saying and remember it was that way!
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