Are you old enough to remember what this is, and where it was used???
If you’re an old fart like I am, it’s…easy…
I knew them as ‘convertibles’, and my aunts in Texas both had them on their sleeping porches.
They were actually called gliders, as they could be used as a semi-swing when configured like you see the one above. The arms folded down flat, and the back also folded down flat.
Covered with a sheet, and given a pillow, and a top sheet, I spent more than one night sleeping on them out on the porch since neither of their houses had air conditioning and we visited in the summer.
They aren’t seen anymore, and sleeping porches are a thing of the past, especially with the coming of air conditioning everywhere. I truly do think kids are missing out on the ‘joys’ of sleeping outside and enjoying the sounds of the night.
Hell, even camping today, you can have an air conditioner for your tent!!! sigh…
What else do you miss from back in the day?
Yes I do recognize that furniture and it’s purpose. It appears to be in fine shape . Not related , but kinda related in an old time way. We once lived in OKC , the house had a big fan in the ceiling in the hallway between the bedrooms , it was flat when off but when you turned it on it opened up in slats and had a monster noisy fan when you opened all the house windows and front and rear doors it would pull some serious wind through the house , blow papers and anything else all over the place . It was the only one I have ever seen , never seen one since . 1969-71 or so .
I remember the attic fan fromthe house we lived in from the late ’50s to the late 60s in OKC. I also remember the one in my grandparents home in Ft. Smith AR. We would open the windows and turn on those giant fans for a col nights sleep. Generally you only had a nice cool cotton sheet covering you but you might have to pull the bedspread or quilt over you in the early morning.
Growiing up in Dallas, we had attic fans on both houses we lived in during the 50’s and 60’s. In that climate they were good for spring and fall before it got too hot. In the summer the A/C came on even at night. But the attic fan was often used to get the hot attic air out before turning on the A/C. Interestingly, back in the late 80’s a friend in NJ was still installing new attic fans in the NY/NJ area since they would help even during most of the summer nights up that way.
First house I bought in TX had one and then we moved to KY and first home there had one in upstairs hall. And yes, noisy as all get out.
There’s one on my front porch — and I nap on it in the afternoons…
I too recall all that and enjoyed them. But heck, I am so old I remember my town’s hanging tree and last being used in the 60s. For a literal horse thief. A bit northwest of Houston.
What do I miss most?
ez
a young vibrant super resiliant fully functional mind nd body!
I’m blessed I survived so many things, so I can’t really complain on my current status.
This is also a daily read for me since idk when (late 00s? I think I followed a link maybe from feral irish, or Woodsterman?) I was living/working in chyna. You nd those guys nd nuckle and such helped my mental health muchly with tales of home nd similar attitudes. Ten years ago I retired to Ph. And still read you all daily for mental health.
anyway, I best ramble on.
Juan
I remember those, and sleeping porches.
I echo Juan’s statement about missing youthful health and energy most of all.
In the evening, after supper and when the sun went down, we’d adjourn to the front porch. Granddaddy sat in his swing and smoked; the adult ladies snapped beans, one lapful at a time. They’d talk about old people stuff, while we (the kids) just hung out. Before they sent us to bed, we’d get washed off there on the front porch with the hose. There was no such thing as air conditioning in Macon in the mid-1950’s, but every bedroom had a window fan, and we lay in the bed so it blew over us.
Very few modern homes feature an outdoor porch and when they are present, rarely have any furnishings that could be slept on. When our house A/C decides to call ‘holiday’, I am the person who stays with the house, feeding animals and being miserable while wife and kids stay in nearby hotel. At night, I put out a foam pad in the back of my truck and sleep under the carport to avoid dew fall. An electric oscillating fan makes it comfortable(ish) :^) but I am addicted to conditioned air, no doubt about it. A/C never dies in winter when outdoor temps are in the 50’s (dang it !)
Hey Old NFO,
What else I miss from back in the day…Being able to ride in the back of a pickup truck….
First house I bought back in 99 had a sleeping porch on the second floor. We used it, but down here, it was a midnight sauna come summer.
Grandma and Grandpa had a glider on their patio, which wasn’t roofed or screened so we didn’t sleep out there in the summer lest we be desiccated by the mosquitoes.
I remember sitting on it, gently sliding the seat back and forth on the gliders, awaiting my turn to spin the crank on the manual ice cream maker we employed at virtually every summer visit.
We bought our first house in Chico, CA in 1984. It had a whole-house fan in the ceiling of the center hallway. Fan was installed by prior owner and vented into the attic. It was impressive when set on “high”. At the time, house was on the north edge of town and there was an open field across the street. Prior owners had planted peach, cherry, and a plumb tree. Smorgasbord for critters. Late evening, fan on high pulling in cool air. Skunk outside sprays. Keystone Cops routine to see who can get to the fan switch first.
What do I miss? Pull up a chair, son. I have returned to a few of the places of my youth. The flood of memories makes it feel like I was just there yesterday, and in the same moment, my awareness of the present also makes it seem 100 years ago. You can return to the same old place, but never to the old SAME place.
My mom’s uncle lived in a nice area of San Antonio (he was a physician), and his house had a sleeping porch over the front living room. Open screened windows all around, with window coverings (blinds or canvas coverings, don’t remember which) that could be lowered to keep light and rain out. Also had ceiling fans… I remember one time I slept out there and a big thunderstorm came over. It was very cozy feeling tucked into the bed and being pretty sheltered amid the lightning and thunder.
When I was in college, I visited a girlfriend who had gone off to Mills College in Oakland, CA. Most of the dorm rooms had sleeping porches, which were great in the dry and cool bay area climate.
Nothing like sleeping on a screened in front porch in the summer.
Educational too, when the neighbor couple got ‘frisky’ around midnight.
All- Thanks, and I’d forgotten about attic fans! Yes, they WOULD blow stuff everywhere…LOL
Agree that the one thing we’d all like is our health back, and yes you can go back, but it’s never the same… sigh
Screened in front porch, with porch swing. And good knees.
> What else do you miss from back in the day?
—
Not having bills to pay.
TXRed- Yeah…sigh…
TRX- LOL, true! That’s what parents were for!
Ah, that brings back the smell of Appalachian woods at night, the whirring drone of the fan, and the scream of cicadas…
I miss freedom. I miss peace officers, somewhere along the way they turned into law enforcement. I miss the beach I grew up on, lined with nought but sand dunes and sea oats, now, it’s lined with Yankee owned high-rises, the gravestones of my youth. I could go on…