I distinctly remember my Great Uncle James Crum’s bed on the screened porch at his humble home on the corner of 26th and Grant Streets in North Omaha, Nebraska. When my parents parked our Chevrolet station wagon in front of their house that he shared with his wife and our “blood” relative, Great Aunt Elizabeth “Nannie” Crum and other lodgers, we could see the colorful, handmade quilt on his bed that was perpendicular to the metal, hard-to-sit on porch bench that doubled as a sliding “sofa.”
As my Dad, Mom, siblings and I climbed out of the station wagon, we were mindful of the uneven sidewalk that caused us to hop across the empty, dirt-filled spaces to reach the Crum’s cleanly swept walkway. It too, had lumps and cracks in it, yet it led to steps up to the screened porch. There we walked across the cement porch and immediately into the open door. Long before cross the doorway, we always smelled the great food for our Sunday afternoon dinner. We were usually joined by our father’s siblings and their children — my cousins — and my paternal grandparents. Their daughter, Cousin Alice Majors, was also there on most Sundays.
I remember those hot Sunday afternoons where we sat in mismatch chairs at the “children” table, and in chairs, on the porch accompanied by TV trays to hold our food and drink. It is hard to describe how delicious our meals were. We got the best of the Alabama natives’ dishes. I can still taste every bit of those meals, especially Nannie’s delicious icebox cake.
Yet, it was how we kept cool during those hot days minus affordable air conditioning. I always wondered why Uncle James’ bed was on the front porch. I didn’t think about it much until recent days when the drag of the Florida heat and the weather warnings caused me to figure out why he chose “out there” versus inside his home. As current temperatures soar in the home state of my paternal grandmother, it hit me: Uncle James was keeping cool.
Our ancestors also utilized multiple methods to keep their multi-story house cool with just floor and window fans. Besides Uncle James, a butcher at the Omaha packing house, his brother and the other lodgers were employed in various trades that included construction and a gas station attendant. Nannie worked in “white folks’ ” homes as a cook and housekeeper. In all, they figured out ways to stay cool at work and home.
Our family, like most, eventually afforded window air conditioners. Ours was in the family room and Mom and Dad’s room. That left window fans and open windows with great screens to bring in the cooling breeze.
How to break the ice to learn more about your ancestors
Utilizing your memories of days gone by, engage your ancestors in conversations about how they kept cool to learn more about your families. Keeping cool memories of a half -century ago or more, are engaging conversation starters. The goal is to continue your genealogy finds, that is to gather information about your families’ lives and relationships.
Here’s a listing of my memories on ways my ancestors and I stayed cool. I am beginning with their often moving around the house desk and window fans:
Example of window fan 1960s
Example of Desk Fan 1950s
- Hand fans, especially church supplied ones from funeral homes
- White-color light weight clothing
- Straw hats and cotton ball caps
- Dimmed or no internal house lights
- Iced water
- Large ice blocks for ice boxes (pre-refrigerators)
- Wet towels around the back of necks
- Cool baths
- Shady trees
- Evening walks
- Public swimming pools
- Lawn sprinklers and blow-up swimming pools
- Libraries, stores, movie theaters
Remember to also comb the media coverage about ways other ancestors remained cool during the sweltering temperatures. Here’s a story from my hometown’s Omaha World-Herald newspaper in 1930. It’s about a $5 winning prize for individuals who recommended the best “How to Keep Cool” contest. LOL
Ann Writes the World 