How Did People Handle the Heat in the 50’s?

With the temperatures moving past the century mark again today I have to wonder just how people did it years ago without air conditioning in their homes and cars.  I wonder how our parents got through days like today.  I remember as a kid sitting in front of a fan that had a wet cloth in front of it and it served as our air conditioning in the house.  Cars at that time had side flap windows that you could open to direct the wind generated by the car’s movement into the car, albeit it was hot air, but it was moving inside the car. I guess in those days, we didn’t know better and now that we do I’ll take what we have today.  The heat of today just seems so much hotter than it was years ago.  Call it global warming or maybe I am just a wimp.  I know some people who just love hot weather (not naming anyone-Dennis Oliver), I am not one of them. I sweat in a blizzard, so any time the temperature gets above 85 I am complaining about how hot it is. I am fortunate to have a home with air conditioning and a workplace like that as well, but there are people who don’t have that luxury. How they are managing is beyond me.  I hope they take advantage of the cooling center at the Kroc Center to get out of the heat.  Hopefully, this heat wave, which is expected to go through next weekend, will end with a good dousing of rainfall which is something we desperately need.