19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, June 8, 1914: Guess most any kind of a person would imagine what I did today. If I could have kept cool, I would have called that something accomplished, but that was out of the question.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma-
Whew, it sounds hot. Hope you didn’t have to help with any work out in the fields.
Did you try fanning yourself with a hand fan? . . . or sitting in the shade with a glass of lemonade?
—
According the June 9, 1914 issue of the Washington Post, the high on June 8 was 92 in Pittsburgh and 94 in Philadelphia—so it probably was also in the low 90s in central Pennsylvania.
Hot and humid, I bet!
Diana xo
About those temperatures here today. I waited until the last possible minute to start my yard work so I could finish before it got too dark and still be a bit cooler.
Phew!
I don’t believe our climate is changing. 🙂
I can’t even imagine what “hot” meant while wearing all those petticoats and long sleeves!!!
I can remember trying to keep cool before the days of a/c! I’m so thankful for that invention!
She didn’t think to turn on the AC? 🙂
That’s very warm for this time of year, isn’t it?
I’ve often wondered how people survived the heat of summer in Virginia before a/c. And everybody wore so many more clothes than we do now.
It’s no wonder you hear of people fainting all the time back then!
Must have been quite the challenge to stay cool back then. It is nice having modern amenities!
I wonder if they were allowed to go barefoot?
Remember the days before air conditioning? We used to sleep downstairs in the living room, or out on the back porch.
It sounded to me like she lost her cool on somebody. Hard to say. I’m sure your take is correct.
Back then they just called it “hot” – not global warming. 😉 Actually when I first read it I thought Helena meant hot as angry!! I thought oh my who got her dander up???!! ha ha