In 1953, after record high temperatures the previous summer had “killed carnival snakes in Texas” and sapped the appetites of New Yorkers, who shed 3.2 million pounds in two weeks, the Post introduced the “Great Era of Air Conditioning.”

This June 6, 1953, article tracks cooling technology from its public debut in movie palaces (not a resounding success: cold air piped through holes in the floor forced dust into the air, only to settle on moviegoers’ faces) to the new trend of room coolers (99 percent of homes at the time had none) to futuristic dreams of shopping centers with air-conditioned and roofed “streets” between rows of stores.

Here’s the whole story:

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