The former site of Sackett & Wilhelms, today's ISPC. Picture the second floor circa 1902 with 60 multi-color presses and a weekly deadline to churn out Judge magazine. |
To steal a phrase from Lexington and Concord, it was at Sackett & Wilhelms that "the cool, dry blast felt round the world" originated. (By the way, if you want to see some of the things S&W printed, see here. They were a well-known, high end NYC printer that did, among other products, Judge magazine--see here for images. Spoiler alert: It was Judge that was giving S&W fits.)
I was never so excited to stand next to rusty old pipes in my entire life. This is where the cool water from a local well entered the building and was pumped into the first a/c apparatus. |
In other words, air conditioning started in a factory, and it was first and foremost about humidity control and only later about temperature. In fact, it would take about 30 years for a residential market to evolve, and another 20 (thanks to Depression and War) for a/c to really escape its industrial orbit and migrate to the urban apartment and suburbs. When it did, though, it did so with a vengeance. The Huffington Post article here has a good summary of Weathermakers, and of this migration. The New York Times also did a great city blog feature here.
Anyway, for a visit to the Sackett & Wilhelms site, see the CBS This Morning video segment here.
And, of course, if you want to put Willis Carrier on Mt. Rushmore--on this, a 96F in Boston--click here.
The original blueprints return to the building 110 years later, with our CBS The Morning cameraman watching me pretend that I know how to read them. |