20 Vintage Photos of People Keeping Cool in the Summer Without A/C

It’s the height of summer, and air conditioners are running at full blast in most of the country. It’s hard to imagine life without A/C now, but people had to get creative with ways to beat the heat before it was more commonplace. 

Check out these fascinating vintage photos of how people used to stay cool during summer heat waves over the years. 

We absolutely love this photo that perfectly captures the chaos and relief that comes with cooling off under a rush of water. 

Ice was still a novelty in the early 1900s, especially during the summer. These kids are cooling off by licking ice blocks, while a gentleman with an inexplicably heavy wool coat looks on. 

Dipping your feet in the water is a great way to keep cool, just like these fashionable women who are reading on a park bench in a pool of water. 

It looks like some road construction created a great spot for a makeshift wading pool, and these kids are taking full advantage of it. 

Perhaps swimmers needed all those rope lines they’re hanging onto because the sheer weight of their wet bathing suits would pull them under?! 

Compare those turn-of-the-century swimsuits to the beach fashion on display here in the 1960s. It seems much more appropriate for dealing with a heat wave. 

While this seems horrifying now, kids used to sleep on the fire escape during heat waves to catch a breeze and sleep better.  

These kids in New York City look thrilled to be playing in the water of an open fire hydrant, but they better watch out for cars since they’re in the street. 

These kids in Washington, D.C. look cool and refreshed under a sprinkle of water. Why don’t adults cool off like this more? 

This woman and child are having a fantastic time cooling off in the spray of a hydrant. Unlike a hydrant’s usual geyser, this one’s more like a powerful sprinkler. 

This guy is enduring a heat wave with the best solution: ice cream. He’s probably sharing all those cones, but if they’re all for him, we won’t judge. 

A game of ring around the rosy is extra fun when you’re doing it around a sprinkler in the heat of summer. 

It looks like someone just opened this fire hydrant because people aren’t completely soaked through yet — though even wading in the water felt great. 

Before kiddie pools, someone set up this makeshift version using a wheelbarrow. How many more kids do you think they can fit in there? 

This woman is taking matters into her own hands for cooling off with her garden hose. The child looks a little surprised, or maybe just camera shy. 

When in doubt, wear as little clothing as possible. That seems to be the motto of this pair walking down the street in bathing suits and heels. 

This is a scene that plays out in countless yards during the summer: kids running through a sprinkler.  

Hopefully these kids aren’t afraid of heights as they sleep on a balcony to escape the heat of the building.  

A dive into the river around NYC might not have been the most sanitary thing, but it certainly would cool you off quickly.  

A woman walks away with a bucket of free ice blocks while a man wipes sweat from his brow as he looks on.