I remember my Mother drying fruit outside on old rusty window screens in FResno County in the 30s and 40s. She covered the fruit with cheese cloth to protect from flies and bugs. I still buy dried apricots to this day but I have to be careful as I now have type II Diabetes...
We watched a segment on food dehydration by Alton Brown, and he used a box fan and a few disposable A/C filters. The climate in TN is so humid that it would take an eternity to dry something without electrical intervention.