Staff writer
Many people think it would be impossible to survive without air conditioning. Yet, until the past 100 years, it never existed in the 6,000-year history of the civilized world.
Many people still living today remember growing up without air-conditioning. Most of them lived on farms.
Florence (Hefley) Ehrlich of Marion grew up at Durham. She said getting electricity in 1937 or 1938 was a luxury in itself. Nobody dreamed about air conditioning and most people didn’t even have fans.
She lived in a two-story farmhouse. At night, windows were opened to allow in the outside air. Sweating was “just part of life,” Florence said.
“It was always nice to go to Durham to see Aunt Martha because she had a fan,” she recalled.
Florence lives at St. Luke Living Center.
Her husband, J.C. Ehrlich, lives on a farm northwest of Marion, near where he grew up. He remembers hanging wet gunnysacks in south windows to cool the breeze at night. When nights were especially warm, he spent them lying on a comforter on a hayrack.
The couple didn’t have air conditioning when they married in 1954.
“It was considered extravagant,” Florence said. “We couldn’t afford it.”
In the early 1960s, they bought a window air-conditioner from a relative, to cool one room. They installed central heat and air in a new house they built in 1966.
Martin Hajek, formerly of Tampa, remembers the temperature rising to 126 degrees one day in 1936.
“You couldn’t touch anything without gloves on,” he said.
Sometimes, men would sprinkle water on their shirts and caps for a brief respite from the heat. Martin remembers sleeping outside on a hayrack.
Asked how she endured the heat and sweat, Ruby Vinduska of Marion said, “You just took it!”
She grew up in a rock house, which stayed cool most days. At night, wet towels were placed over windows to cool the incoming air. It also kept out the dust.
She married Lou Vinduska in 1946. She was pregnant with Terry in 1949, when her father bought her a fan, which was a big help.
Sue (Riffel) Gutsch grew up at Lincolnville. She said her parents left doors and windows of their house open all day. She said she liked to go down the street to visit the Cheever twins because their house was closed up during the day and they had fans to circulate the cool air.
Les Broadstreet of Marion began his photography business in 1936. He couldn’t recall whether he had a cooling system then, but after returning from the war, an evaporative air cooler was installed in his second-floor studio.
A pump circulated the water through some type of medium as a fan blew air through it. The system cooled the air but increased the humidity. He used the same system after he built a new studio in 1958 or 1959.
“I needed to keep people cool while taking their pictures in front of the lights,” he said.
His wife, Bernice, sometimes found the linoleum floor in their home kitchen to be the coolest place to lie down.
They didn’t experience air conditioning until they moved to Wichita in the 1960s.
Joan (Wight) Meyer of Marion grew up at the funeral home on Elm Street. She said the family slept on the wide, front porch during hot nights. They soaked their clothes in water to keep cool.
Meyer said Farmers and Drovers Bank (now Central National Bank) installed a huge evaporative cooler in the 1950s. The owners drilled a well in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the building to provide the necessary water.
Air conditioning arrives
Cities received modern conveniences, including air conditioning, earlier than rural areas. An “Apparatus for Treating Air” was invented in 1902 by Willis H. Carrier. It first was used in various businesses such as printing companies.
Carrier Engineering Corporation, established in 1915 by Carrier and six other engineers, developed and patented centrifugal refrigeration, which made air conditioning practical for industry.
The first attempt at cooling for human comfort occurred in 1924, when air conditioning was installed in a New York City department store. Much to the delight of the owners, shoppers flocked to the store.
In 1925, air conditioning was installed in movie theaters, and business skyrocketed. The same thing happened at restaurants and other businesses that acquired air conditioning.
The White House, Supreme Court, U.S. House of Representatives, and U.S. Senate were air conditioned in 1928.
In response to demands for smaller units, the first residential unit became available that year but did not see widespread use until after the Great Depression and World War II. Mass production made the cost more affordable.
Now, three of four households in America have air conditioning. Window air conditioners still are popular, and central air conditioning is common. Most vehicles and even cabs on industrial equipment are equipped with air conditioning.
It remains an option.
According to Danny Flynn, general manager of Midway Motors in Hillsboro, a customer occasionally orders a vehicle, such as a compact car or work truck, without air conditioning, but 99 percent include it.
Some people still rely on simple elements to survive hot days and nights in their homes. They use shade trees, outdoor air, and fans to keep relatively cool, and they survive.