Thread: We think it's hot -

Extracted from:
Journal of an Expedition in the Interior of
Tropical Australia
In Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria
Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone) (1792-1855)

This was in December 1831. I have added the Celcius equivalents (rounded) in bold.

24th December. A lurid haze hung among the trees as the earliest
sunbeams shot down amongst them. The party were ready to move off
early, but the progress was slow from various impediments. A hot wind
blew like a blast furnace. A bullock dropt down dead at the yoke. We
encamped on the Currandong, or Back Creek, near a small plain, after
travelling about ten miles. Thermometer in tent, 103.° 39 Hot wind from the
west.
25th December. Halted to rest the cattle. The wind blew this day more
from the northward, and was cooler. Thermometer in tent, 107°. 41
26th December. — Proceeded to Graddle, a cattle station belonging to
Mr. Coss, 21/2 miles. Thermometer, 109°. 43
27th December. — The bullock-drivers having allowed twenty-two of
the bullocks to stray, it was impossible to proceed.
At early morning the sky was overcast, the weather calm, a slight wind
from the west carried off these clouds, and at about eleven a very hot
wind set in. The thermometer in my tent stood at 117°, 47 and when
exposed to the wind rose rapidly to 129°, 53 when I feared the thermometer
would break as it only reached to 132°. 55
28th December. — All the cattle having been recovered, we set off
early, accompanied by a stockman from Graddle, Mr. Coss's station. The
day was excessively warm, a hot wind blowing from the west. We finally
encamped on the Bogan, at a very muddy water-hole, after travelling
eleven miles. Thermometer in tent, 115°. 46 At half past five, the sky
became overcast, and the hot wind increased to a violent gust, and
suddenly fell. I found that tartaric acid would precipitate the mud,
leaving a jug of the water tolerably clear, but then the acid remained.
Towards evening the sky was overcast, and a few drops of rain fell. The
night was uncommonly hot. At ten the thermometer stood at 102°, 38, and at
day-break at 90°. 32

And not an air conditioner in sight!

You don't have to go that far back, or even into the outback. The first day I was ever in Melbourne, must have been January 1960, the temperature was 41C - and the only places in downtown Melbourne that were airconditioned were the cinemas. No shops, no cars, no offices. Airconditioning was something people knew about, but something someone else had. And most people working in the city wore suits and ties. We were on holidays, so it wasn't as bad for us.

High temperatures, at least occasionally, have always been a fact of life in most of Australia, but airconditioning is recent. It only became "normal" in public buildings and offices in the 1960s, in cars in the 1980s, and homes even later. Even today, for example, I saw noted recently that less than 50% of NSW schools have airconditioning, and probably less than 50% of the homes I have been into round here are airconditioned.

In the 1960s I worked year round in the middle of the Simpson Desert. The only airconditioning we had was a window unit in the office caravan, which failed to work except for a couple of days. We lived in tents, and none of the vehicles had airconditioning - and nobody expected it. While we had some spells of prolonged hot weather - there was one notable spell where it was over 40C for more than a week, day and night - the most notable feature was usually the daily temperature range, often over 35 degrees. I remember one dozer driver had to have the fan set to push air forward, as sucking raised blisters on his legs during the day - but working late into the night, despite being rugged up, he came into camp shivering and with his face blue from cold.

Just to add to this, remember that until about the 1960s or even later, insulation of homes in most places in Australia was unusual if not unheard of. When we built this house in the 1990s we were considered "strange" by many of the suppliers for wanting to fit wall insulation and double glazing.

People just accepted that you could not be at a comfortable temperature all the time!

And remember that Series Landrovers, production ending in 1983-4, were never fitted with airconditioning from the factory, and very rarely aftermarket.