Everything I knew about thrift I learned from my Old Man. How I miss him and Mom. Keep them company for me Larry!
Dad Tossed Dimes Around Like They Were Manhole Covers
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
We never had it growing up as far as I remember. That being said you only really needed it for a few days a year when it would hit 90+ degrees so it really couldn’t be justified.
The wife and I bought our first portable one after we got married, as she couldn’t go without it lol
Seldom of much benefit in Upstate New York. Climate control is something you see in institutional settings. I got along with fans for the most part during my years in Baltimore. My grandparents (then resident in suburban Washington) began installing window units around 1955. One in the living room, one in the dining room, one in the den, one in each bedroom. I assume these were replaced with central air by the people my grandmother’s executors sold the house to in 1987. I can introduce you to family in Virginia who grew up without it but by middle age (ca. 1975) could afford central air. They thought it a necessity by time I knew them two decades later..The difficulty with central air technology (among other things) is that builders then cease to incorporate features (e.g. cross ventilation) which would allow you to limit your use of central air. The houses in which I grew up were built in 1941 / 42 and in 1903 / 04 respectively. In both cases (particularly the latter), the builders had made some (if incomplete) effort to place windows, interior doors, and exterior doors in such a way as you could have cross ventilation from one side of the house to the other.
==
Had a workmate who lived in Georgia for a while, then returned to central New York (which has a fierce climate in January). His comment on why he preferred the latter to the former – “you can always put stuff on”.
[…] Analysis, Punditry, and News:Dad Tossed Dimes Around Like They Were Manhole Covers – The American CatholicIt’s Here! The 2025 Color of the Year – Meghan Ashley Styling, […]
Ms. Hensley resembles the actress Pamela Hensley who was a villain after Buck Rogers in the late 1970s sci fi show on NBC.
I grew up without central air conditioning…didn’t have it in cars that much either. Dad had it installed in 1989 after two very hot summers in 1987 and 1988. The new house he bought in early 1981 did not have AC although he could have had it.
Mike Ditka paraphrased your quote about your father, attributed to Bears owner George Halas…he threw around nickels like manhole covers.
.
Pro tip: grow up in Michigan. You won’t need the a/c, and you won’t be able to afford it because you’re running the heater 10 months a year.
One window unit in the living room arrived when I was 10.
It was so loud you couldn’t hear the TV without Mom shouting at you to turn it down. TV usually won so it was seldom used…
Grew up without it in northern PA. My parents got a window unit after I grew up. As others have said, you don’t need it much there. Felt the need for it living in Virginia and Maryland, but now in Ohio it’s just that I’ve gotten soft. We keep windows open as much as possible.
In Dallas in the 50s I vaguely re,e,ber getting wimdow units on the bedtooms, amd definitely remember getting central air several years later. And no AC at schiil.
Growing up, I recall the car air conditioner.
Dad called it 475. I looked around the dashboard for the buttons to push but never saw any. The air never really cooled down much, but boy did our hair blow around.
475;
Four windows down and drive 75mph.
While we lived in Indiana the oscillating fans worked day and night. Ceiling fans were not that prevalent, or atleast I don’t remember them being in many homes. 1966-74.
Kid memory #374.
Speaking through the back of the fan while it’s on high. Tttthhhhaaaaatttssss alllllll fffoooolllkkkkksssss.
Fresh air and open windows in summer is always a better option. When that fails, crank on the AC, spend the day in an air-conditioned public building or (if you can) go for a swim. That’s what we do here.
I feel like houses (in my part of the woods anyway) are never designed properly for the climate. For example in the inner city there are terraces found in Sydney and Melbourne, which are a British introduction. They are not suited for the hot Australian climate because they allow light/heat/ventilatiin from either end. In contrast, the Queenslander, which is built on stilts (protected from flooding), has ventilation openings above doors, deep verandas etc…gives better cross ventilation through the entire house from all sides.
Well designed homes are a game changer for heating and cooling without the need for constant artificial climate control which is expensive to run, and (dare I say it) bad for the environment. Yes AC cranked on 24/7 are not ideal.
Yeah. I remember! For the first 13 years of my life, our air conditioner was a windows fan in the kitchen. Man, that thing was noisy! And the only way you got cool was from the sweat evaporating on your skin!