The first attempt at White House air conditioning was after President James Garfield was shot. Engineers rigged up a system with a fan blowing air through some wet cotton screens.
I imagine they found out swamp coolers don't work in the swamp and DC is in a swamp. RH in the summer is typically 80 or more. They don't call that area near the river "foggy bottom" for nothing. They have done quite a bit to drain it, mostly to build on the land but that was not true at the turn of the last century.
Given it was the WH, I was expecting it to say they used blocks of ice. Agree on the swamp cooler, I can't imagine it would work in DC.
Sounds like it works about as well as most things have in DC.
I live in the middle of NC and many years ago the city high school which is a large brick 3 story building tried the ice type of AC. They blew air over ice and sent it to many of the rooms. Did not work very well then either from the stories of the older students. Whatever, it was not in use in 1964 when I started there. Just large open windows when it got too hot and steam radiators in each room for the cold weather. Back then maybe the richer 10% of the students had AC in their house so most of the students were used to the warm weather. My parents first car with AC was bought in 1966 and the first car I had with AC was 1974.
We didn't have AC in my high school, a block from the White House and it was brutal in the summer. Steam radiator heat in the winter.
My mother bought a '65 plymouth Fury ii or iii, and they added add-on AC which worked well. She almost bought it from Jerry Alderman, went home to think about it, called the salesman to take it, reviewed what the deal included and the saleman said it didn't include wheel covers. She was sure he had said it did.
Next day she went to the south side and bought same car with a better color for a little less money, from his father's dealership.
So the first guy lost a sale over wheel covers.
My brother went to Viet Nam and gave me his 65 Pontiac Catalina which had great fresh air at the kick panels (after I connected the control cables. Came from the factory unconnected, and fresh air doors closed). then I bought a 67 which had AC but there was an oil streak under the hood just above it and it never worked. Didn't spend the money to repair it. I guess he '73 Centurion I bought about 1980 had AC. or maybe the 84 Lebaron in '91. Trouble is, no more blast of fresh air from the kick panels, only what sneaks through the heat/AC system and requires a fan.
On Fri, 05 Mar 2021 00:35:10 -0500, micky posted for all of us to digest...
No vent windows either...
John Gorrie - the first U.S. Patent for mechanical refrigeration in 1851.
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