7 September—It’s refreshing and gratifying to report that the school buildings in the nascent Region 20 (Goshen Litchfield, Morris, Warren), a.k.a. the Wil Magoo Region, aren’t air-conditioned. Except, of course, for window units here and there to keep some wax wusses from melting. But it’s distasteful to report that on ultra-hot days schools in Connecticut tend to close early.

Is it really necessary to let pupils and teachers out early just because it’s hot? Some readers will remember that on the hottest days of summer (as well as the coldest, snowiest, and iciest days of winter) schools were open and in session from nine to three, or whatever the regular hours were—and pupils and teachers were expected to attend as usual.

Willis Carrier had produced the first modern air-conditioning system in 1902—to cool paper for a commercial printer. H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman had invented window air conditioners in 1931. And domestic window units were taking hold in the fifties. Usually the so-called air conditioners just cooled the air and consumed a humongous amount of electricity. But who cared?

Central air conditioning (cooling) was the exception in public buildings rather than the rule until the seventies. Grown-ups who can still remember anything will recall that movie houses and department stores attracted business in the summer by advertising their air conditioning.

But venerable public (and private) school buildings weren’t air-conditioned. So, to borrow Ned Lamont’s cool tagline, the “extreme hot-weather protocol” of the day was for the teacher to open all the windows. Or, if they were available (and the principal was agreeable), classes would be held under shade trees.

Every now and then a teacher brought a big fan into the classroom. And you know it wasn’t intended to cool the class.

Certainly, it may not have been easy for the kids to pay attention in those classes, but they never misbehaved. Those were classes of over 30 pupils with only one person to teach and keep the kids under control. Teacher’s aides hadn’t been invented. Okay, teachers didn’t have to keep the kids under control because parents took care of that. But I digress.

I’d like to expatiate on how we’ve become a nation of wusses. But it’s too hot, the window air conditioners haven’t been installed this summer, and the punkah-wallah is on strike. So, as Harry Truman observed, if you can’t take the heat, get a dog . . .