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Window ledge air conditioners weren't invented until 1932. There are still living seniors (like my grandmother) who for all practical purposes grew up in a tim

Window ledge air conditioners weren't invented until 1932. There are still living seniors (like my grandmother) who for all practical purposes grew up in a time before air conditioners were affordable and generally available.

readthenotes1 4y ago
The population growth of the south and southwest came after AC. 1950, 10% of Americans lived in NYC
- jefftk 4y ago
  > 1950, 10% of Americans lived in NYC The share of Americans living in NYC hasn't fallen all that much: 12M in 1950 to 19M in 2021 [1], during which the US population has gone from 151M to 332M. So 8% to 6%. [1] https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/23083/new-york-city/population https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/23083/new-york-city/popul...
a2tech 4y ago
My grandmother grew up without electricity--let alone AC.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  My dad remembers when they finally got electricity and a (party) phone line—some time in the 1960s. I'm not sure they got municipal water service until after he was out of the house, probably in the 70s. They used hand-pumped well water, and had an outhouse. From his stories about his childhood and young adulthood, it seems lots of poor folks and especially the rural poor were still kickin' it like it was the 1920s, well into the second half of the 20th century.
Sharlin 4y ago
Hundreds of millions of rich Westerners live in places where air conditioners are… well, they might be affordable and generally available, but still considered a luxury. That basically includes the whole Europe. The sentiment is changing now that heat waves are becoming more common.