July 30, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, before air conditioning, summer shaped how people worked, where they lived, and which cities could survive the heat. That all began to change in 1902, when Willis Carrier designed a machine to solve humidity problems in a printing plant. His invention cooled the air around us and quietly reshaped modern life. From factories and theaters to homes and highways, air conditioning took hold—one building at a time. Jesse Edwards, a frequent Our American Stories contributor, explores how this once-overlooked breakthrough became one of the most influential innovations in American history.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history
and everything in between. And now it's time for a
brief look into the history of air conditioning. Here's Jesse.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
One of the.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Single greatest inventions in modern history is the air conditioner.
Americans spend more than twenty two billion a year on
electricity to cool their homes. With air conditioning an average
of twenty two hundred dollars per household, it's hard to
imagine how people live without it. Ancient Egyptians cooled themselves
at night by sleeping in wet sheets. Early Americans placed
(00:52):
large blocks of ice in front of fans. Willis Carrier
invented modern air conditioning in nineteen oh two for a
publishing company in New York that was experiencing problems when
humidity caused ink to smudge and paper to expand. The
New York Stock Exchange Building in New York City was
one of the first buildings to use air conditioning in
nineteen oh three, but it wasn't until nineteen oh four
(01:13):
when the first private home was equipped with an air conditioner.
In Minneapolis, movie theaters were among the first businesses to
install air conditioning. In nineteen twenty two, Carrier installed his
system in a movie theater, which advertised its new system
by saying that the theaters were quote cool as a
mountain top.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, you lucky people, just sit back for a moment,
relax and noticed a delightfully clean, cool, and refreshing atmosphere
of this scientifically air conditioned bitter. Great, isn't it. Remember
you can enjoy great motion picture entertainment all summer long
in cool comfort at this bitter.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
In nineteen thirty nine, Packard came the first automobile manufacturer
to offer air conditioning in its cars, but it would
be decades before ac became commonplace in homes across the country.
Here's historian Gary Mormino.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Air conditioning had existed in the larger cities since nineteen twenties.
You could go to the premiere movie theater and enjoy
air conditioning comfort, but it was unaffordable and really unrealistic
for a homeowner to even dream about air conditioning. The
(02:32):
Carrier window unit came in nineteen fifty one, and what's
interesting is it wasn't an immediate hit. For instance, everyone
I think assumes that everyone went out and bought a
window unit in the summer of nineteen fifty one. It
was much slower than that. First of all, it was
very expensive. Most homes were modestly priced and made no
(02:55):
sense to purchase one thousand dollars unit for a six
thousand dollars house. The first census to ask home owners
whether they had air conditioning was nineteen sixty, and in
nineteen sixty only one home in five was air conditioning.
But the future was lock set. Almost all the new
(03:17):
developments included air conditioning. Climate control was the future for growth.
Air Conditioning is omnipresent now. In Hollywood, Florida, a neighbor's
newly installed air conditioner rattled all night, and his neighbor
took him to court, and the judge ruled, you might
as well get used to it. This is kind of
(03:39):
like the Model T. It's the wave of the future,
and as one of those new sounds introduced after World
War II and the War of the air conditioner, air
conditioning has also created a twelve month tourist industry. Before
air conditioning, many beach communities opened only a few months
a year, and hotels in the nineteen thirties. The Royal Palm.
(04:05):
The breakers the dawn says are they generally only operated
in the winter months for three or four months. Clothes
for the season would be the sign. In summer, ooh, this.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Hot summer is got mad down.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
You can fry an egg on the street. He wears
a wiggling on the sidewalk, ups a drop, a light
flies on the beat.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
I need a new lover, runitate me and protect me.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Bro This humid air.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Beeaf in Brooklyn, stateon Island of Queens head them care.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
You don't matter kind of love and you're into.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Or how big your apartment might be.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Oh, you needs an air conditioner and you have the
man for me. Without air conditioning, we wouldn't have certain
medications today. Some medications could only be studied and developed
in a cool environment. Kids can thank air conditioning for
summer vacation. The four air conditioners. It's too hot to
learn during the summer, so the kids were granted a
break and the idea stayed.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
This lucky baby will sleep quietly through the night. Yes,
no matter how high the temperature goes outdoors, this baby's RCA.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Air conditioner will keep.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
His room filled with cool, dry, fresh air, and keep
that room so comfortable and quiet you'll never need a
middle of the night lullaby. Yes, quiet is the word
for this new nineteen fifty four RCA air conditioner, as
the wonderful heart of cold compressor silently.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Cools the air for you. Without air conditioning, life would
be a lot harder. Not only would we be uncomfortable,
we'd be fighting for our very survival. According to our
recent study, heat related deaths have declined eighty percent since
nineteen sixty. This can be directly attributed to widespread adoption
of residential air conditioning.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Harry, uh you sleep?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Who can sleep in this sheet? Thank you? It open
the window a little wider so we can let some
more hot air in when you're trying to beat the heat.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We think you'd have better luck with the Calvinator speedy
mount air conditioner on your side.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Even the cold water is hot.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
According to the National Academy of Engineering, air conditioning and
refrigeration is the tenth most important achievement of the twentieth century.
If you're sitting in an air conditioned room or car
right now, take the time to appreciate everything AC has
given us. Comfort, productivity, health cities and much more. Air
Conditioning makes us more productive and allows us to live longer, happier, cleaner,
(06:35):
and more comfortable lives, and don't risk a breakdown during
the hottest days of the year. Keep your artificial oasis
going by remembering to schedule a professional AC maintenance every
spring and calling a professional technician as soon as you
notice a problem. For our American Stories, I'm Jesse Edwards, yours.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Call and great job is always to Jesse. And you
know you just forget. There was a time nineteen oh three,
the first building to use AC, the New York Stock Exchange,
the first car the Packard in nineteen thirty nine, and
in nineteen sixty only one in five homes at AC.
Hard to imagine the story of air conditioning, the history
(07:18):
of air conditioning Here on our American Stories lie h
Habib here and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe
to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed
(07:41):
or want to hear again can be found there daily again.
Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming.
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history
and everything in between. And now it's time for a
brief look into the history of air conditioning. Here's Jesse.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
One of the.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Single greatest inventions in modern history is the air conditioner.
Americans spend more than twenty two billion a year on
electricity to cool their homes. With air conditioning an average
of twenty two hundred dollars per household, it's hard to
imagine how people live without it. Ancient Egyptians cooled themselves
at night by sleeping in wet sheets. Early Americans placed
(00:52):
large blocks of ice in front of fans. Willis Carrier
invented modern air conditioning in nineteen oh two for a
publishing company in New York that was experiencing problems when
humidity caused ink to smudge and paper to expand. The
New York Stock Exchange Building in New York City was
one of the first buildings to use air conditioning in
nineteen oh three, but it wasn't until nineteen oh four
(01:13):
when the first private home was equipped with an air conditioner.
In Minneapolis, movie theaters were among the first businesses to
install air conditioning. In nineteen twenty two, Carrier installed his
system in a movie theater, which advertised its new system
by saying that the theaters were quote cool as a
mountain top.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, you lucky people, just sit back for a moment,
relax and noticed a delightfully clean, cool, and refreshing atmosphere
of this scientifically air conditioned bitter. Great, isn't it. Remember
you can enjoy great motion picture entertainment all summer long
in cool comfort at this bitter.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
In nineteen thirty nine, Packard came the first automobile manufacturer
to offer air conditioning in its cars, but it would
be decades before ac became commonplace in homes across the country.
Here's historian Gary Mormino.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Air conditioning had existed in the larger cities since nineteen twenties.
You could go to the premiere movie theater and enjoy
air conditioning comfort, but it was unaffordable and really unrealistic
for a homeowner to even dream about air conditioning. The
(02:32):
Carrier window unit came in nineteen fifty one, and what's
interesting is it wasn't an immediate hit. For instance, everyone
I think assumes that everyone went out and bought a
window unit in the summer of nineteen fifty one. It
was much slower than that. First of all, it was
very expensive. Most homes were modestly priced and made no
(02:55):
sense to purchase one thousand dollars unit for a six
thousand dollars house. The first census to ask home owners
whether they had air conditioning was nineteen sixty, and in
nineteen sixty only one home in five was air conditioning.
But the future was lock set. Almost all the new
(03:17):
developments included air conditioning. Climate control was the future for growth.
Air Conditioning is omnipresent now. In Hollywood, Florida, a neighbor's
newly installed air conditioner rattled all night, and his neighbor
took him to court, and the judge ruled, you might
as well get used to it. This is kind of
(03:39):
like the Model T. It's the wave of the future,
and as one of those new sounds introduced after World
War II and the War of the air conditioner, air
conditioning has also created a twelve month tourist industry. Before
air conditioning, many beach communities opened only a few months
a year, and hotels in the nineteen thirties. The Royal Palm.
(04:05):
The breakers the dawn says are they generally only operated
in the winter months for three or four months. Clothes
for the season would be the sign. In summer, ooh, this.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Hot summer is got mad down.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
You can fry an egg on the street. He wears
a wiggling on the sidewalk, ups a drop, a light
flies on the beat.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
I need a new lover, runitate me and protect me.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Bro This humid air.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Beeaf in Brooklyn, stateon Island of Queens head them care.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
You don't matter kind of love and you're into.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Or how big your apartment might be.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Oh, you needs an air conditioner and you have the
man for me. Without air conditioning, we wouldn't have certain
medications today. Some medications could only be studied and developed
in a cool environment. Kids can thank air conditioning for
summer vacation. The four air conditioners. It's too hot to
learn during the summer, so the kids were granted a
break and the idea stayed.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
This lucky baby will sleep quietly through the night. Yes,
no matter how high the temperature goes outdoors, this baby's RCA.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Air conditioner will keep.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
His room filled with cool, dry, fresh air, and keep
that room so comfortable and quiet you'll never need a
middle of the night lullaby. Yes, quiet is the word
for this new nineteen fifty four RCA air conditioner, as
the wonderful heart of cold compressor silently.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Cools the air for you. Without air conditioning, life would
be a lot harder. Not only would we be uncomfortable,
we'd be fighting for our very survival. According to our
recent study, heat related deaths have declined eighty percent since
nineteen sixty. This can be directly attributed to widespread adoption
of residential air conditioning.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Harry, uh you sleep?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Who can sleep in this sheet? Thank you? It open
the window a little wider so we can let some
more hot air in when you're trying to beat the heat.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We think you'd have better luck with the Calvinator speedy
mount air conditioner on your side.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Even the cold water is hot.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
According to the National Academy of Engineering, air conditioning and
refrigeration is the tenth most important achievement of the twentieth century.
If you're sitting in an air conditioned room or car
right now, take the time to appreciate everything AC has
given us. Comfort, productivity, health cities and much more. Air
Conditioning makes us more productive and allows us to live longer, happier, cleaner,
(06:35):
and more comfortable lives, and don't risk a breakdown during
the hottest days of the year. Keep your artificial oasis
going by remembering to schedule a professional AC maintenance every
spring and calling a professional technician as soon as you
notice a problem. For our American Stories, I'm Jesse Edwards, yours.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Call and great job is always to Jesse. And you
know you just forget. There was a time nineteen oh three,
the first building to use AC, the New York Stock Exchange,
the first car the Packard in nineteen thirty nine, and
in nineteen sixty only one in five homes at AC.
Hard to imagine the story of air conditioning, the history
(07:18):
of air conditioning Here on our American Stories lie h
Habib here and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe
to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed
(07:41):
or want to hear again can be found there daily again.
Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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