Where did the wood come from and how was the fire started?  Somewhere on the farm were trees.  The farmer would chop down a tree with an axe and haul the tree back to the area of the house and barn.  The tree would then be cut into short lengths using an axe or saw.  The logs would then be split lengthwise into two or four pieces using a sledge hammer, weighing perhaps 10 pounds, and wedges.  This wood would then be stacked near the kitchen door.  Usually the kitchen stove would be the only source of heat in the winter, although some farmhouses had fireplaces.  As you can imagine this wood gathering was hard work.  A lot of trees had to be cut down to provide enough wood to last an entire year.

Typically the fire would be started by placing a little kindling in the stove, followed by the split logs.  You had to be careful not to put too many logs in at once or the fire would be too hot.  Sometimes a little paper would be wadded up and placed in the kindling.  Then a match would be struck and placed among the kindling.  What is kindling?  Kindling might be wood chips created when the logs were slit, bark from dead trees, dried corn cobs or very commonly dried cow chips.  Almost from the time a kid could walk he or she had the chore of getting the kindling.  Cow chips?  When a cow would go to the bathroom there would be a plop.  When the plop dried it was a cow chip.

As the wood in the stove burned ashes would be formed.  The front of the stove had a hinged door.  That would be opened and the ashes removed to be saved.  Some ashes would be used in making soap.  I will talk a little bit about soap in another note.

Sometimes the farmer would have a kerosene instead of a wood stove.  The kerosene had to be bought in town and carried to the farm.  Needless to say a kerosene stove provided a more even heat, had no ashes to empty and required no trees to be cut.  It was a lot easier on the farmer.

Pans would be placed on the stove for cooking.  Almost everything except bread was either fried or boiled.  Bread and cakes would be cooked in the oven part.  This bread was seldom loafs, but rather biscuits or corn bread.

Things were a little different in the towns.  Almost everyone had a kerosene stove or one that used natural gas.  The stoves looked a lot alike.  Still. In the towns the kitchen stove might be the only source of heat in the winter.  In the towns, sometimes other rooms than the kitchen might have a little natural gas heater.  Today this would be called a space heater. You lit them with a match.  You did not burn them much because of the cost of natural gas.  Electric stoves and heaters did not exist.  Even if they had, most farms did not have electricity although those in the towns did.  Too, electricity was expensive.

In the north many homes had coal furnaces to provide heat in the winter.  Most houses in Texas and much of the southwest had no cellars or basements under the house.  In the north the basements had a walled off area in which coal was kept.  The furnace was in the basement with pipes or ducts carrying heat upstairs.  Heated air is lighter than unheated.  At first the heat would naturally rise.  Later fans were installed in the coal furnace to force the air upstairs.

A coal truck came to the house, a chute would lead from the truck through a window and the coal unloaded into the coal bin in the basement.  As the coal burned in these furnaces, ashes and clinkers would be formed which had to be carried outside.  The ashes and clinkers would be placed in cans for the trash man to pick up.  Some ashes would be placed on icy walks in the winter to prevent one from slipping on an icy sidewalk.

Most floors were either bare wood or wood covered with linoleum.  In the winter you woke up very fast when you put your bare feet on the cold linoleum.

In the 1930's and 1940's we had very efficient and cheap air conditioners.  They were given to everyone by churches and funeral homes and occasionally by some merchants.  We called them fans.  They were about 8 inches square, although sometimes the top was curved.  They were made out of cardboard and were affixed to a small wooden handle.  No electricity was needed to operate them.  You just grabbed hold of the wooden handle and waved it back and forth.  In the late 1930's electric fans became available.  Of course they were of no use on a farm without electricity.

In the summer people would sit on porches.  Sometimes a quilt or blanket would be placed in the yard and you would sit on them.  While sitting in the yard at night we would marvel at fireflies.  Sometimes we kids would catch them and place them in a jar.  The jar top would be pierced with holes using an ice pick so the fireflies could get air.

After World War II, “swamp coolers” came into vogue.  These were large boxes placed in a window.  At the base of the box water was placed.  At the rear of the box a fan was placed.  The fan blew air across the water creating air a little cooler.

It was not until the late 1950's did air conditioners as we know them today become available.