If you wanted to buy an in-window air conditioner back during the 1940s, you’d have to fork out approximately $350.

With the dollar value back then that is nearly $3,500 in 2018 terms!
The first commercial use of air conditioning was in movie theaters. Theater owners wanted to be able to draw a crowd in hotter summer months back in 1917. Most homeowners did not have cooling units and it was an extra incentive that worked! Theater owners got their money’s worth out of their investments.

Going back even further in time in 1736 the British House of Commons was cooled by a giant 7-foot blowing wheel which had to be hand cranked. It was called The Ventilator.

1891 in St. Louis one company overhauled a beer hall into an “Ice Palace” via chilled refrigeration and they painted murals on the walls of polar expeditions. Frost coated pipes were visible to passers-by and they flocked to come inside to the 70-degree coolness as a reprieve from the 90+ degree heat outside.

Just one year later, in 1892,  Willam Randolph Hurst, an eccentric millionaire, was the first man to cool an entire room in his home. The room was only 6×9’ and had a false wall which hid the massive cooling machine.

Cooling machines were also quickly picked up by coroners offices to cool cadavers, as well as the NY Stock Exchange.

The first man to patent the idea was of course none other than Willis Carrier. This is the very same Carrier AC company we all know and recognize today. They were the first to bring the coolers down to scale and make them reasonable to sell to the public.

And last but not least, our first President to cool the white house spent a whopping $30,000. Mr. Herbert Hoover likely enjoyed the White House more comfortably than any President to come before him.

Interested in a new AC system for your own home? Need maintenance done on your current system, or just a checkup? Call us. All Day Air Cooling and Heating located here in Fort Myers, Florida – Locally owned, operated and trusted. (239) 357-0727 | www.alldayaircooling.com.