By Nancy Miller Chenier
On July 13, 1921, the temperature in Ottawa reached 38° C (100 Fahrenheit). The heat had been building for weeks and residents of Lowertown were sweltering. Men, women, and children were seeking every method possible to get relief from the weeks of hot weather. So, what were some of the options for getting cool?
In homes and businesses in Lowertown, many residents opened doors and windows hoping for a breeze. One business promoted the addition of awnings asserting that “Awnings shut out all the penetrating rays of the hot summer sun without closing out all the fresh air.” For others, it meant keeping the building cool during the day by closing wooden shutters and windows or by installing window shades and blinds. At bedtime, residents with an enclosed sleeping porch off one of the second storey bedrooms or just a screened porch downstairs might take a cot there for the night.
If residents could afford to have electricity, they might have an electric fan to help move the air. An advertisement by the Ottawa Hydro Electric Commission in 1917 stated that, for a trifling cost, a turn of a switch would allow residents to “cook, iron, wash, sew, curl the hair, make the home cool on the hottest day.” For homes that still had insulated iceboxes for perishable food, fans could be positioned to blow over an extra ice block to cool the air.
When residents had leisure time, they set their chairs out on front porches or verandahs or on the sidewalk under a nearby tree. If they lived in an area with no nearby trees to provide shade, they went to a local park. For those with a bit of money to spend, more creative suggestions included taking their mind off the heat by going to a theatre or orchestral performance or even redecorating the house so that it looked fresher or buying a cool shady country lot and a tent.
Water was crucial to defeating the heat. While everyone was urged to drink more water, gardeners were instructed on ways to reduce watering by planting and maintaining gardens in ways to retain moisture and prevent evaporation. With the Ottawa River on one side and the Rideau River on the other, Lowertown inhabitants of all ages took to the water. The Civic Playgrounds Commission looked for safe swimming spots in the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers. Boaters in a variety of watercraft appeared on both streams. Advertisements promoted women’s bathing suits featuring full pleated bloomers or jersey tight styles with full skirts and belted waists.
Local newspapers offered multiple suggestions for food preparation, all directed at women, under titles like “Efficient Housekeeping.” Many homes still had wood, coal, or gas ovens and the focus was food preparation that could be done in the early morning hours and served cold. There were also advertisements for prepared cereals like shredded wheat biscuits “good start for a hot day”; preserved foods like smoked ham and bacon “delicious morsels that gratify hot weather appetites”; precooked foods that needed little or no heating like Heinz Baked Beans “the most convenient, most nourishing, and most appetizing food for hot weather.”
Fashion played an important role. Men could get by with rolled-up shirt sleeves and straw hats seen as ideal headgear for hot weather. For women, advertisements focused on natural fibres such as cotton or silk and loose clothing styles. Freiman’s promoted hot weather dresses for house and porch wear, cool and airy for $1.69. Women could also buy a “bungalow apron” advertised as “the popular hot weather dress apron for town, camp or country.” Even female undergarments were mentioned. “Women of large proportions who change their corsets frequently during the hot weather” were urged to buy a new Nemo Corset during sale time. If you did not wear a corset, muslin underskirts and chemises were available.
Early Lowertown residents had to be creative to get through steamy weather and many of their methods apply today. Seeking shade, ensuring hydration, wearing loose clothing, and pursuing social connections were key to surviving the hot times in those olden days.
