Back then my parents had an AC unit for their bedroom. The kids had nothing and never ever did we ask for AC for our bedrooms. No space in our house had AC except for that one bedroom.
Also back then before AC was pervasive..... Movie theaters would advertise their air conditioning. To come in out of the heat and see a movie
Grew up in the sweltering Mississippi heat and humidity with no A/C-we 10 kids all made palletts on the living room floor, collected all the fans in there, and opened the front and back doors (we lived in the country). Sometimes we just camped outaide, but the mosquitos might torment you all night then.
What part of the country? Outside of Boston we had some hot nights and used fans. A/C really wasn’t necessary.
When I was a child in the late 60's and '70's, my parents installed an AC unit in our living room window. If a night was too hot, we slept in sleeping bags on the floor of the living room.
Even in the '90's, when I was pregnant with my first child, we lived in a sweltering attic apartment and had only a window AC unit in one room.
IMHO, air conditioning is overused today. And, anyway, the sound of fans can be very relaxing.