WEBVTT - Flashback: Episode 3 "AC/DC" (Sneak Peek)

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen o two, a young engineer named Willis Carrier

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<v Speaker 1>encountered a situation that many of us are all too

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<v Speaker 1>familiar with, a printer problem. Carrier had been hired by

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<v Speaker 1>a printing company in Brooklyn. Summer humidity was causing their

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<v Speaker 1>paper to swell, to jam in the presses to print incorrectly,

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<v Speaker 1>so rather than a crisp image, they were getting a blur.

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<v Speaker 1>They were wasting tons of paper, missing deadlines. Uh, this

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<v Speaker 1>was a huge problem. Carrier was the son of a

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<v Speaker 1>farmer and something of an eccentric genius, the kind of

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<v Speaker 1>head in the clouds guy who would occasionally pack a

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<v Speaker 1>suitcase with just a handkerchief inside, or order a three

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<v Speaker 1>course meal and not take a bite. Carrier had just

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<v Speaker 1>graduated from Cornell when he was asked to find some

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<v Speaker 1>way to fix the company's printers. He molled over the

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<v Speaker 1>issue for weeks. Then one day, as he was standing

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<v Speaker 1>on a foggy railroad platform contemplating the missed around him,

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<v Speaker 1>an idea struck him. Carrier solution not only solved the

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<v Speaker 1>printer problem, it changed the world, and his invention continues

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<v Speaker 1>to have ripple effects today that impact everything from the

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<v Speaker 1>comfort of your living room, to the size of your government,

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<v Speaker 1>to even possibly the outcome of the U S elections

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<v Speaker 1>this fall. Welcome to Flashback, a podcast from AZZI about

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<v Speaker 1>unintended consequences. I'm your host in history instructor Sean Braswell.

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<v Speaker 1>Up until about a hundred years ago, a climate controlled

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<v Speaker 1>environment was a fantasy, the stuff of science fiction novels.

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Twain once said that everyone talks about the weather,

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<v Speaker 1>but no one does anything about it. Well, in two

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<v Speaker 1>Willis Carrier finally did something about it. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>about something most of us take for granted, air conditioning,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's really about the power of comfort. Comfort can

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<v Speaker 1>move mountains, and more importantly, it can move people. Every summer,

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<v Speaker 1>millions of tourists and school children descend on Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>To take in the sights and sounds of the nation's capital,

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<v Speaker 1>and every summer millions wish they had decided to visit

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<v Speaker 1>during a different time of year. Hundreds of thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>people celebrating Independence Day in the nation's capital will face

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous heat temperatures in Washington. Monuments and the lofty words

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<v Speaker 1>inscribed upon them just don't seem to matter as much

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<v Speaker 1>when you're baking in a pool of your own sweat.

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<v Speaker 1>Very hot, it's really gross, silly hot. It's warm today

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<v Speaker 1>these days, at least you have the option of going

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<v Speaker 1>to a museum or some other air conditioned area. But

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<v Speaker 1>let's go back in time for a moment, back to

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<v Speaker 1>a simpler time, a far less comfortable time. It can

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<v Speaker 1>be hard for us today to imagine Washington, d c.

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<v Speaker 1>Or many places in America before climate controlled building. In

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<v Speaker 1>the days before air conditioning, American life during dangerously hot

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<v Speaker 1>weather wasn't all that different from American life during beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>cool weather. Salvador Basil is a social historian an author

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<v Speaker 1>of Cool How air conditioning changed everything, And this was

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<v Speaker 1>because people in those days were operating under a Victorian standard.

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<v Speaker 1>They did their best to act as if they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>notice the heat. They were trained this way from birth.

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<v Speaker 1>But a stiff upper lip didn't prevent one from feeling

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<v Speaker 1>the heat or being affected by it. So every newspaper

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<v Speaker 1>in America during the summer months had its daily column

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<v Speaker 1>of heat prostrations and heat strokes and heat fatalities. It

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<v Speaker 1>was an unusual for thousands of people to die during

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<v Speaker 1>a major heatwave. No one thought much of this. The

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<v Speaker 1>upper floors of office buildings, including Manhattan's dazzling new skyscrapers,

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<v Speaker 1>were like ovens. Most theaters lacked ventilation or windows, and

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<v Speaker 1>audience members baked in the summer months, but it went

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<v Speaker 1>beyond that. Getting a night sleep was usually impossible. Some

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<v Speaker 1>people went so far as to climb to their rooftops

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<v Speaker 1>for a breath of air, where a few of them

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<v Speaker 1>fell asleep and rolled off to their deaths. To cope

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<v Speaker 1>with the heat during the day, people would congregate outdoors

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<v Speaker 1>in the shade or at a swimming pool. They drink

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<v Speaker 1>ice drinks on porches, take a quick dip in public fountains,

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<v Speaker 1>take naps under trees and parks, and the nation's capital

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<v Speaker 1>was especially hot as soon as the plaster was dry.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone in the federal government realized that Washington was one

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<v Speaker 1>of the worst places to locate the nation's capital, and

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<v Speaker 1>it didn't take long for America's leaders to avoid the capital.

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<v Speaker 1>Many presidents used to skip town during the summer months.

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<v Speaker 1>Teddy Roosevelt like to go bear hunting in Colorado. Calvin

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<v Speaker 1>Coolidge once took his entire family, five canaries, two dogs

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<v Speaker 1>in a pet raccoon to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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<v Speaker 1>Members of Congress also stayed clear of d C in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of the sun where but working there was

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<v Speaker 1>still a miserable experience. A member of Congress would collapse

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<v Speaker 1>and then possibly die at other law makers simply assumed

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<v Speaker 1>that he had been done in by the temperature. Members

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<v Speaker 1>of Congress did their best to cope with the heat.

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<v Speaker 1>Lawmakers would adjourn for the day if the temperature got

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<v Speaker 1>too uncomfortable. They all adopted white linen suits. One congressman

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<v Speaker 1>became famous for the fact that at a certain point

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<v Speaker 1>in the calendar he would remove his two pay and

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<v Speaker 1>spend the rest of the time bald uh. They drank

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<v Speaker 1>a great deal of lemonade made for them in the

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<v Speaker 1>cloak room, along with other beverages, and if things got

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<v Speaker 1>really tough, they would sneak down to the Capital Basement,

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<v Speaker 1>where there was a room of bathtubs, and they would

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<v Speaker 1>take a quick plunge to restore themselves. Sometimes even that

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<v Speaker 1>was not enough, but a number of those men dropped

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<v Speaker 1>dead anyway, And the buildings didn't help. There were rooms

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<v Speaker 1>without air, there were rooms without windows. One Congressional chamber

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<v Speaker 1>was so notorious for heat that everyone called it the oven.

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<v Speaker 1>The result was absolutely unbearable, and it would be unbearable

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<v Speaker 1>for the next seventy years. As they kept trying to

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<v Speaker 1>tinker with the system, nothing helped, at least until Willis Carrier.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's go back to that foggy railroad platform in N two. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>fog is really nothing more than water droplets that have

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<v Speaker 1>condensed out of the air, and as you may know,

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<v Speaker 1>cool air cannot carry as much water as warm air can.

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<v Speaker 1>So Carrier realized that if you could pass warm air

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<v Speaker 1>across a refrigerated object, then you could cool that air down,

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<v Speaker 1>reducing its humidity level, which in turn would cool the

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<v Speaker 1>surrounding air as well. Carrier built what he called the

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<v Speaker 1>Apparatus for treating air. It worked wonders for the Brooklyn

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<v Speaker 1>company that hired him, and this did indeed lower the

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<v Speaker 1>humidity in the printing plant. Interestingly, at the same time

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<v Speaker 1>time the temperature came down, employees wanted suddenly to eat

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<v Speaker 1>their lunch in the workroom, and Carrier realized that he

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<v Speaker 1>was onto something. Of course, Carrier's invention not only removed

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<v Speaker 1>the humidity from the printing room, it also chilled the air.

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<v Speaker 1>But still this was considered something for business purposes, not

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<v Speaker 1>for the average person. But then Hollywood came calling. Up

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<v Speaker 1>until that point, moving pictures had always taken a huge

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<v Speaker 1>loss during the summer. No one wanted to spend the

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<v Speaker 1>hot months in a theater with no ventilation. By the

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<v Speaker 1>late nineteen twenties, the idea of summer movies was firmly established.

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<v Speaker 1>Hollywood was rolling in money, and an amazing thing happened.

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<v Speaker 1>For the first time in human history, people anywhere knew

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<v Speaker 1>that they had a place to go to escape from

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<v Speaker 1>the heat, and that costs nothing more than the price

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<v Speaker 1>of a movie ticket. This was momentous. Theaters advertise their

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<v Speaker 1>a c with marquees frosted over with fake snow penguins

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<v Speaker 1>and polar bears, signs with hanging icicles. Sometimes they just

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<v Speaker 1>propped the lobby doors open wide and let the gush

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<v Speaker 1>of cold air sweep over passers by. Remember you can

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy great motion picture entertainment all summer long in cool

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<v Speaker 1>comfort at this dinner. For decades, most Americans experienced air

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<v Speaker 1>conditioning only in large commercial spaces like movie theaters, department stores,

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<v Speaker 1>and hotels. Finally, in the early nineteen fifties, it made

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<v Speaker 1>its way into the home. R C A America's finest

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<v Speaker 1>air conditioner goes quietly about its business of keeping you comfortable.

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<v Speaker 1>Air Conditioning in the nineteen fifties was not only a

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<v Speaker 1>comfort item, but it was a real homeowner's status symbol.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether it was a central system or a window unit,

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<v Speaker 1>everyone knew that you had it, and everyone was rushed.

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<v Speaker 1>Within five years, Americans were installing more than a million

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<v Speaker 1>units a year. For many the home a C unit

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<v Speaker 1>was a revelation. At the age of six, an aunt

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<v Speaker 1>of mine bought two air conditioners, which was a scandal

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<v Speaker 1>in the family because air conditioners were only for rich people.

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<v Speaker 1>But I also noticed that at the next family party,

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<v Speaker 1>everyone flocked to her living room and stayed there. So

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<v Speaker 1>I sneaked over to the machine and put my hand

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<v Speaker 1>out to the grill, and there was cool air, and

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<v Speaker 1>I was hooked. Ever after, America's new addiction set off

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<v Speaker 1>an extraordinary chain of events. Places in the country that

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<v Speaker 1>had seemed uninhabitable during summer now had millions of new residents,

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<v Speaker 1>places like Washington, d C. Now, most objects tend to

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<v Speaker 1>expand when they are heated up. Next, though, we find

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<v Speaker 1>out how the US federal government did not start to

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<v Speaker 1>truly expand until it was cooled down. Do you have

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<v Speaker 1>an interesting tale about unintended consequences from history or your

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<v Speaker 1>own life, Please share with us by emailing flashback at

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<v Speaker 1>AUSI dot com. That's flashback at o z y dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>We all need a break from the constant cycle to

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<v Speaker 1>researching this season of flashback. Lectures like Playball, the rise

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<v Speaker 1>of Baseball is America's pastime, History of the Supreme Court,

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<v Speaker 1>and Battlefield Europe have helped me connect the dots on

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<v Speaker 1>several stories from history. Right now, they're giving our listeners

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