when I was growing up , we had a big ole attic fan that when it was turned on ....after the windows were raised , cooled you off to the point of huntin cover after a little while. sounded like a B-52 drawin a breath. When hurricane opal came thru , we were without utilities for about 2 wks. We raised the windows and slept like babies.....after we got used to it. Reckon how our grandparents got by......with out all this new hi-tech gizmotism ?
air conditioning
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Air conditioning and fans?? Hell, most of you young'uns lived good coming up. During WWII we lived in a house my Dad had just built but no electricity or water yet. Only fans we had were old magazines or newspaper pages given to us.(They were used for another purpose afterward). We did have a few nice kerosene lamps, a galvanized tub for laundry and baths. Our water carried from a neighbors place. Our heat was a regular coal stove in the living room and a little drum stove in another.
Fuel was some coal when my Mother could afford it but we also burned wood. She had little money since as a low paid Marine Private in 1944, my Dad sure as hell wasn't sending much home. I wasn't very old but looking back now it seems like we had lot of good times except the fact my Dad was gone. To be honest though, I wouldn't want to live like that again
Baker
I am 56, and cannot remember being without television. I can remember living in a house without air conditioning, but I swear, it was not as hot, back then, during the summer. Lived in FL all my life, and in 2008, air conditioning is a must.
BTW, we had to turn on the AC last night....warm here, yesterday.....
BTW, we had to turn on the AC last night....warm here, yesterday.....
Joined
·
2,428 Posts
Air conditioners aren't on my mind up here these days!
Maybe in a few months.
Maybe in a few months.
Joined
·
3,639 Posts
I was grown before we had any indoor plumbing or elect. Fireplace in each end of the house. The first one that got a television in the area had a house full every Friday and Saturday night. We went and watched Lawrence Welk and the
Grand Ole Opry. Wouldn't want to go back to the good old days, but I do enjoy Staying at the Ranch in the Summer without utilities. Granny and I spent last summer there in a Travel Trailer and plan to do the same this summer. Love to open the windows and let the fresh air blow through and listen to the Coyotes and night sounds.
Grand Ole Opry. Wouldn't want to go back to the good old days, but I do enjoy Staying at the Ranch in the Summer without utilities. Granny and I spent last summer there in a Travel Trailer and plan to do the same this summer. Love to open the windows and let the fresh air blow through and listen to the Coyotes and night sounds.
A good ‘ol “I remember” thread!
We always had electricity and plumbing, but we didn’t have a hotwater heater. There was a tank that sat next to the coal furnace and sometimes in the winter when the furnace had a fire, the water would get almost warm, but not quite. The furnace had one register in the middle of the house and there were a couple of times I thought some heat was actually making it up to my room upstairs.
Saturday night was bath night and my mom would heat water on the stove for baths. What that meant was that there was very little hot water so we all had to use the same water, and me being the littlest, I was always last. I was a kid and I could have cared less, but my mom did have to be careful not to forget I was in all that dirty water and throw me out with the bathwater.
We didn’t have a TV until I was about 11 or 12, so my entertainment for the evening was to set myself in front of the big ‘ol console radio to listen to my programs. It had a big green eye at the top that had lines in it that needed to be as close together as possible to get the station tuned in as good as you could get it. I’d listen to The Lone Ranger, Tarzan, Red Ryder, Gene Autry, The Green Lantern, and a whole bunch more.
We had electricity but no refrigerator, so we had an icebox on the back porch. There was an iceman that delivered ice to the icebox from his horse-drawn wagon. The milkman also had a horse-drawn wagon back then too, but soon went to a motorized truck that he had to drive standing up.
There was no such thing as air conditioning but I don’t remember being too uncomfortable; you just dealt with it. My mom would pull the shades down during the day and keep everything closed to keep the too warm air out, and then open everything back up at night. It seemed to work pretty good and I survived.
We always had electricity and plumbing, but we didn’t have a hotwater heater. There was a tank that sat next to the coal furnace and sometimes in the winter when the furnace had a fire, the water would get almost warm, but not quite. The furnace had one register in the middle of the house and there were a couple of times I thought some heat was actually making it up to my room upstairs.
Saturday night was bath night and my mom would heat water on the stove for baths. What that meant was that there was very little hot water so we all had to use the same water, and me being the littlest, I was always last. I was a kid and I could have cared less, but my mom did have to be careful not to forget I was in all that dirty water and throw me out with the bathwater.
We didn’t have a TV until I was about 11 or 12, so my entertainment for the evening was to set myself in front of the big ‘ol console radio to listen to my programs. It had a big green eye at the top that had lines in it that needed to be as close together as possible to get the station tuned in as good as you could get it. I’d listen to The Lone Ranger, Tarzan, Red Ryder, Gene Autry, The Green Lantern, and a whole bunch more.
We had electricity but no refrigerator, so we had an icebox on the back porch. There was an iceman that delivered ice to the icebox from his horse-drawn wagon. The milkman also had a horse-drawn wagon back then too, but soon went to a motorized truck that he had to drive standing up.
There was no such thing as air conditioning but I don’t remember being too uncomfortable; you just dealt with it. My mom would pull the shades down during the day and keep everything closed to keep the too warm air out, and then open everything back up at night. It seemed to work pretty good and I survived.
Joined
·
2,437 Posts
Reading this brought back some memories. Although I must not be quite as old I remember the radio being a big part of our entertainment. The Lone Ranger was my favorite. And when we got our first TV in the 50s I remember watching Howdy Doodie and Roy Rogers. My grandparents lived on a farm in OK that didn't have indoor plumbing until the late 60s.
First a/c in our house was in Waco, TX, Dad was in the USAF and we had our first 'modern' house there.
Otherwise we stayed in a big two story house in Shreveport with Grandmother when he was overseas. Lots of windows, no a/c and we never knew we were missing anything. Didn't even have a/c through high school. Don't think I could make it without a/c now----
First a/c in our house was in Waco, TX, Dad was in the USAF and we had our first 'modern' house there.
Otherwise we stayed in a big two story house in Shreveport with Grandmother when he was overseas. Lots of windows, no a/c and we never knew we were missing anything. Didn't even have a/c through high school. Don't think I could make it without a/c now----
The old Briggs and Stratton lawn mower lasted for years and years....the push type. You would be lucky to get a summer cuttin out of one nowadays. I have used a weed sling to get the grass to the point of mowing. Do I qualify for being a little bit old school ?Air conditioning and fans?? Hell, most of you young'uns lived good coming up. During WWII we lived in a house my Dad had just built but no electricity or water yet. Only fans we had were old magazines or newspaper pages given to us.(They were used for another purpose afterward). We did have a few nice kerosene lamps, a galvanized tub for laundry and baths. Our water carried from a neighbors place. Our heat was a regular coal stove in the living room and a little drum stove in another.
Fuel was some coal when my Mother could afford it but we also burned wood. She had little money since as a low paid Marine Private in 1944, my Dad sure as hell wasn't sending much home. I wasn't very old but looking back now it seems like we had lot of good times except the fact my Dad was gone. To be honest though, I wouldn't want to live like that again
Baker
One more....I can remember my daddy tellin the stories of his few years in school. Back then ,he said , ....we used a bit of hog lard on our hair to keep it slicked down. In the winter time ...when they backed up to the wood stove , it smelled like bacon was cookin. Gotta love the old folks!!!!!!
mrb
The best push mower we ever had was a old Sears we got from my wife's father's stuff after he died. We used that old mower for years.
Weed sling?? You're a tougher man than this old guy. I did try a scythe my Dad had once on long grass. I wasn't coordinated enough and that damned thing was a man killer.
The best push mower we ever had was a old Sears we got from my wife's father's stuff after he died. We used that old mower for years.btruman....it wasnt being tuff...it was being a kid with lots of energy that needed burnin off. thats what gran said anyway. she bragged on how much energy I had. She could get more chores done by me because I didnt want to be outdone by my siblins...she was a smart lady!!!!!!!
Well, I cut 3 acres with a WWII reel-type push mower from 10 till 13-then Dad got a power mower...with a step-on clutch for the self-propelled...we had septic, which I fell into at about 5 years...and an outhouse, which I terrified my Sister about spiders in....we had no fans or a/c....no TV till I was 10, listened to Gunsmoke, Have Gun,Will Travel, Gangbusters, and others on the radio...and learned Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey on the old needle-dial radio...Les Paul and Mary Ford on 78s, also Judy Canova's "Ma and Pa" humor....I'd say it was a good life...milkman came on in-knew where the key was "hidden" and put the milk in the fridge by how many bottles we left out...before Mom and Dad ever got out of bed...bears in our screen porch to tear into the week's garbage....Mom with a 6-cell D flashlight between her knees killing 3 ***** out of the trees above my dog's pen....yeah, I had a good life....Clorox bleach came in a brown glass bottle with a blue label....I could go on but that's enough...got the younguns' heads spinnin'......
I can remember the milkman.....he brought glass bottle containers on a two wheel pedal bike....eggs also. Local grocery was only a couple hundred yards away. We got all our clothing and shoes at the same place. Mom and Pop stores .....I callum the good old days when you didnt worry about your neighbors knockin on the door when they needed a cup of sugar........sheepdog , I sorta thought youda kept them ***** at bay.....down in the woods !!!!!
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!