My clever Dad

On a later trip to Florida, not the 1952 trip in the previous post, my Dad devised air conditioning for our Ford.  He made a metal tray to fit over the transmission hump under the dashboard of the car.  The morning we left he went to the ice house and purchased a large block of ice.  He put the ice in the tray and opened the vents under the dash to let air blow across it, thus cooling our car.  He was my hero.

To those of you who are younger and scratching your heads, let me explain:  1. There once was a time that cars were not air conditioned.  2. Ice was easy to purchase in all sizes and all cities had ice houses.  3. There were vents under the dash that you opened by hand.

Now speaking of old cars;  I really miss those triangular shaped vent windows that were between the windshield and the regular crank down windows.   And yes, you used to have to crank down the windows, they weren't electronic.