Open Windows

Day One - or should I say Morning One - was a great success! I'm not crowing too loudly as I know that these early morning tasks are just the tip of the iceberg. These are the kinds of chores that the authors of my manual expected from every occupant of the 1945 household. Even the youngest school-aged child would probably have been raised to take care of these duties before sitting down at the breakfast table.

Open windows in bedrooms, top and bottom, on arising, for free circulation of air (except in completely air-conditioned houses). (This should be done by the person occupying the room.)

The weather here is finally cool enough that I can open my bedroom window and let the fresh air indoors. What a blessing after a summer of air-conditioned stuffiness! Even women living in a northern climate have to give up opening bedroom windows during the winter, though, so we all have to endure stuffy air at one end of the year or another...

The authors of America's Housekeeping Book make it clear from Chapter I, "When You Hunt a Home," how important fresh air was to the modern housewife. "Cross-ventilation in every room" was the very first item on the checklist designed for the woman inspecting a home for sale. Women were encouraged to budget time every day in order that their children get "exercise and fresh air." Most women by far still dried their laundry on clothes lines, and they were encouraged to air all their bedding outdoors once a week.

I find it interesting that the manual referenced air-conditioned homes. I've always thought that air conditioning was only found during the '40s in hotels, restaurants, or other public facilities. Digging a little deeper into the manual, I find that the term "air conditioning" was being used to refer not just to cooling, but to systems that circulated, purified, and humidified (or dehumidified) air. In other words, somebody who lived in a "completely air-conditioned house" in 1945 would never have had the luxury of a freshly-aired bedroom!