Ryan Helmer can't imagine what it would be like to live without air conditioning.
"There would have been a lot of restless nights," said Helmer, 27, of Lawrence. "I'd sell my soul to get air conditioning - or hang out at Wal-Mart all day."
But there was a time, just two generations ago, when Douglas County District Court was in session on blazing hot, humid summer days and windows were open and fans were buzzing.
That's the way it was not only in court but in offices throughout the old courthouse at 1100 Mass. - and probably in most of the offices and stores throughout Lawrence.
"When people knew it was going to be hot and there was no air conditioner, you opened a window and just dealt with it," said Bill Bell, the county's building maintenance director.
When Don Fambrough played football for Kansas University in the 1940s, it didn't matter how hot it was during practice, there were no water breaks.
Thomas Graves, 21, a Kansas University junior from Overland Park, cools off at The Crossing, 618 W. 12th St., after classes Aug. 19. He and others were cooling off with the help of a fan that had water running in front of it.
"After practice, the coaches would follow us up to the dressing room and make sure we'd take one swallow of water, rinse our mouths out and spit it out," Fambrough recalled. "After a shower, then we could drink more."
Fambrough, who went on to become the Jayhawks' head football coach from 1971 to 1974, said that while his teams were allowed to have breaks, drinking a lot of water still wasn't encouraged.
"Everything has changed, now," said Fambrough, who also coached the team during a second stint from 1979 to 1982 and who still watches many of KU's practice sessions.
"I'm out there every day watching them, and they work really hard, but I tell you, there are always people watching them with water bottles," Fambrough said. "They are well taken care of."
Spoiled by air conditioning
Today, when court is in session in the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center located just east of the old courthouse, judges, attorneys and jurors work in air-conditioned splendor. In fact, there are no windows in the courtrooms to open. The center was built in the late 1970s on the basis that there will always be air conditioning, Bell said.
"This is going to be the hottest day of the year. Boy, you'd think they'd at least air condition these places."
- Actor Jack Warden, as a juror opening a window in the 1957 movie "12 Angry Men."
Air conditioning dominates people's lives today because it is difficult to find a home, car, office or store without it. More schools are becoming air-conditioned. People are spoiled to the point that many of them don't know how to properly deal with the heat, said Dr. Michael Kennedy, a family physician and assistant dean for rural health education at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
"I think the big reason people don't handle the heat as well is because they seem to have forgotten some of the common sense things we need to do to manage ourselves in the heat," Kennedy said.
The simplest and most important thing to do is stay hydrated.
"People used to just drink water to prevent heat-related injuries," Kennedy said. "We've kind of gotten away from that."
Kennedy is not a fan of sports drinks, which he said are overrated.
"They tend to have twice as much sugar and half as much salt as we need," he said. "That's why there is a market for Pedialyte (a formula to replace lost fluids in infants and children); it just doesn't taste as good because there isn't a lot of sugar."
And speaking of salt, jars of salt tablets were once commonly found in locker rooms for athletes to dip into following practices. They aren't necessary, Kennedy said.
"You have so much sodium in your system and in your diet that it really doesn't help," he said of salt tablets.
Body adjusts
Because there is so much air conditioning, people don't get as acclimated to being out in the heat, Kennedy said.
"People aren't willing to sit around in their homes and sweat," he said.
Acclimating to the heat means the kidneys, brain and other body organs make adjustments, Kennedy said. The brain, for example, has a diuretic hormone that adjusts the water balance over time, and kidneys tend to hold on to electrolytes a little bit more, he said.
One of the reasons the elderly are so susceptible to overheating is because their body's acclimation processes are blunted, especially if they are taking medications, Kennedy said.
Just like other people were, football players 40 or more years ago were more acclimated to the heat and that may be why they were able to do without water during practices, Kennedy said. He also thinks, however, that heat-related deaths among football players are not necessarily more numerous today, just more publicized.
Fambrough noted that football practices when he played didn't start as early in the summer as they do now. And players are much bigger now, with linemen weighing 300 pounds or more, while the biggest players on his 1970s KU teams were at least 50 pounds lighter, he said.
"Those 300-pound kids, you got to water them down like an old horse or something," Fambrough said. "It's just a different type of athlete. They're bigger, they're stronger and they just require more attention."
Sue Neustifter went to work in the Douglas County Register of Deeds office in 1959, when office windows were open and several years before window air conditioners, and later central air, were installed.
"I was raised without air conditioning," said Neustifter, who served as register of deeds from 1972 until she retired in 2002. "I'm the type of person that can't take the cold but I can take the heat."
And just because people were more acclimated to heat before air conditioning, that acclimation didn't come easily, according to Bell.
"I can remember sleeping on the concrete floor of the basement with a fan on me and a wet sheet, just trying to get to sleep," he said.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
akuna (anonymous) says…
Last summer was such a nice summer that we didn't turn on the air conditioner at all. This summer we ended up turning it on during the last week of July. Now that it has been on, it has become a comfort. But when it wasn't on, the heat didn't seem that bad, at least not until the temperature got up to the high 90s. On nice days - sub 85 degrees, we still turn off the AC. Overall, I'd say the heat's not that bad. We just drink more water to deal with it.
average (anonymous) says…
Three giant maple trees on the south side of the house, an attic exhaust fan, a porch swing, and a mint julep. Roll on summertime!
christie (anonymous) says…
Could this be some Evolutionary thing? As modern humans rely on modern comforts our bodies are changing and we're not able to cope with environmental conditions?
Perhaps someone could point me to a Bible Passage that describes it better. Something like:
And God said to Noah:
Mankind will become fatteth, and lazieth, and the air will be cooled by shiny machines, hidden beneatheth their dwellings, and they shall become more fatteth, and will perish with the heat.
avhjmlk (anonymous) says…
That's the spirit! I'd turn off our air most of the time, but my husband can't do without it.
MadAsHell (anonymous) says…
Gee, that was a nice story, grandpa!! So let me see here, this moral of the story is that we would be better off without air conditioning? Either that, or we're all a bunch of sissies now with our newfangled A/C.
Maybe if Mike Belt would've done some responsible reportage, he would have researched the number of deaths due to heat exhaustion before A/C was ubiquitous. Come to think of it, we'd probably be better off without cars, electricity, book learnin'...
sixtwelvewest (anonymous) says…
It isn't hard to get used to life without air conditioning. You just can't be an idiot about hydration, taking it easy, and fresh air. I hate air conditioning and I'm glad to be rid of it in my home save for a window unit in my bedroom for comfortable sleep. I wish my office weren't constantly freezing to accommodate the overweight people who are "too hot" when it's 70 degrees out.
plainspeaking (anonymous) says…
One of the first stores in Lawrence to have air conditioning was Carl's Menswear (now part of Weaver's)...that was back in 1936. Carl's also had the first fluorescent lights in Lawrence.
jayhawks71 (anonymous) says…
Sorry Christie, but evolution doesn't work that quickly (50, 60, 100 years). Looks like the Bible missed out on this one too.
kitnkat (anonymous) says…
I'm overweight and I handle the heat just fine. It's the humidity that kills. I'll take 100 degree temps any day over 80 with 90% humidity. And us overweight folks are tired of frying while you skinny folks freeze to death during the winter. Put some darn meat on your bones!!
happyone (anonymous) says…
kitnkat why don't you put down the twinkies and go for a walk and lose all that blubber!! You might actually feel better and be able to do more.
gccs14r (anonymous) says…
I'm with six. If you're dying from the heat at 70°, you're carrying too much insulation or your metabolism is off. Humans are savanna animals that have adapted, via tools, clothing, and unhealthy eating habits, to much cooler climates. Imagine being wet and naked outdoors at night. Still want it to be 40°?
KanedaMGM (anonymous) says…
Try being in Qatar in the summer. It is 115 and 85% humidity. That is HOT.
onehotmomma (anonymous) says…
Stop bashing the overweight. Plenty of skinny people can't stand the heat either.
gccs14r metabolism off? Instruct us on how to correct that.