It was hot the memorable summer our air con ditioner died in July.

To save money, we ordered an AC unit for my cousin and husband to in stall. I learned to appreciate cool air during the two weeks it took to get it here.

I flung all our doors open, raised all windows, turned on all the fans and welcomed any stray breeze that would grace our house. The houseflies were thrilled.

Between the fans and flies happily buzzing around the house, it was tolerable.

AC is now an expensive necessity in our lives. The reason I have childhood memories of crickets and whippoorwills at night is that our windows were open at night. To save money, my dad refused to run the air after dark.

Hot weather has been around since ancient times, and the ancients had to be creative to get that air moving. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Ancient Egyptians hung damp reeds over windows and placed pots filled with water in hallways. When the water evaporated, it cooled the hot, arid air.

In Australia, women hung water soaked bed sheets in open breezy areas, as the air blew over them, it cooled the air in the room.

Roman Emperor Elagabalus is said to have imported snow from the mountains on donkey trains. Not so sure how well that worked.

The Middle East is hot. While in Israel in 2015 during the hot season, the Tomb of the Prophets was 30 degrees cooler than the outside. Cooling towers were designed to catch and circulate cool air from underground tunnels into homes. They also used wind towers, which blew air down into the buildings.

Homes were also built with cool, shady breezeways and large porches. Many slept outside to enjoy the nightly light wind.

High ceilings in homes allowed hot air to rise and windows and doors were placed to harness the power of cross-ventilation.

Kitchens were built away from the house to keep out the heat from open fires.

My condolences to all those women in centuries past who stoked those fires just to prepare food for the family in summer heat.

Root cellars open doors let cool air up the stairs and into the house.

Plunging into watering holes, lakes and rivers are the oldest ways to cool down. Church and funeral home hand fans with advertisements on the back were another way to cool down.

Houses were built off the ground so wind and moving air could cool the floors.

Dr. John Desaguliers, cooled off the stuffy, hot British House of Commons in 1734 with wind towers, pipes and rotary fans. It worked as long as someone cranked the handle.

In 1841, British engineer David Boswell Reid started using steam power to run Desaguliers’ system.

Willis Carrier invented the first all-electric air conditioning unit in 1902.

According to hvac.com, in 1914, the residentially installed units were 7 feet high, 6 feet wide, and 20 feet long and cost $120,000 to $600,000 in today’s dollars.

There are several things I am thankful for: running water, indoor toilets and air conditioning. However, I do miss hearing the crickets and whippoorwills!

Have a Good Ol’ Days idea for Liesha? Please email her at liesha.huffstetler@gmail.com .