“......and people did this BEFORE air-conditioning as well!:”
Yes we did. Before our little desert area got irrigation we would have 110 degrees often in the summer. No air in cars either. We had the little wing windows.
My mother would put cold damp towel hanging over a fan to help cool us down.
when I was little and we drove from California to Alabama to visit grandma we drove at night until we got through Texas, no car A/C.
Ha! I remember those little wing windows in cars! I also remember the days before air conditioning, although we rarely reach steady days of 100 degrees. The odd day here or there is about it for us. I do remember, as a child, that top floor bedroom with the angled ceiling being really hot at night. Sleeping was often difficult, and wet lol. We all lived through it, though.
I have a theory about air-conditioning (as much as I love it). I thought about the toxins in the body, and how they surely would have been released every summer without air-conditioning. People used to drink gallons of water and sweat like crazy. As uncomfortable as that may have been, it sure would give your system a flushing. Nowadays we go from air-conditioned house, to car, to stores, to work (if indoors), back to car, and home again. We rarely spend any time outside unless we have to, if it’s really hot. That has to have some effect on the body.
Well, that’s my theory, but ask me if I have my a/c on when it gets hot lol! At least it has to be pretty warm before I use mine - at lease high 80s inside the house. I’m fine with the wind blowing and ceiling fans.