Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen for July 19, 2021

We were poor when I was growing up. We couldn’t afford air conditioning and that was in Louisiana. Before the twentieth century, no one had air conditioning. It’s a wonder we all survived.

Or a wading pool.

We did have quite a heat wave here, but the smoke from the forest fire rolled in from the south-west and cooled things down a great deal. Last week we had a high of 37 C. Today’s high was 14 C and very smoky.

Is it canon that the family lives in Edmonton? Yeah, major heat wave in those parts over the past couple of weeks.

Methuselah didn’t have AC and he lived quite a while!

It was the summer of ‘73 when my wife and I decided to move our bed down to the coolness of the basement. After a couple of nights, the chore of climbing the stairs every time for bathroom breaks got tedious, so we moved it back upstairs and bought an extra fan.

As a boy I had the top bunk. My choice during the hot spells was to sleep on a lounge chair in the back yard.

I rather like basements, but few houses on the West Coast have them.

I still remember the first window AC my father bought (used) in the ’60s.

It’s SUMMER, yes, it’s hot!

Remembering when we went to the basement during the hottest part of the day. This was in the Midwest before we got a window unit. Kinda scary for a little kid. No finished basements liked today, more like a dungeon but definitely cooler.

A memory jogger, this is why so many houses built it the ‘50s had rec rooms in the basement. My parents didn’t get AC installed until the late ’80s.

The house I lived in as a child had a basement where my Mom stored her canning. It was heaven during the dog days of summer.

Where I live, everybody has central air conditioning.

Makes me wonder how people survived Phx. summers.

I didn’t live in a/c until I was 53. My father and then my husband didn’t want it. Never will I be without it again! I will sacrifice whatever I need to have it. I live in South Texas.

Fans

I love the fact that this strip is showcasing someone without A/C. There’s 3-4 nights a year when we really need it. We have a window unit—but the energy is uses—both in getting the monster in the window and the cost…. For 3-4 nights? Nah. My electric bill: $70/month basically year round.