How did people living on Southern Plantations keep cool in the heat, especially

Question: How did people living on Southern Plantations keep cool in the heat, especially while sleeping!?
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Most southern houses (and keep in mind that plantation doesn't mean pillars and mansions- a plantation house was more likely to look like this http://www!.chadwickartphotography!.com/im!.!.!. or this http://massengale!.typepad!.com/photos/unc!.!.!. as it was to look like this http://1902victorian!.com/Neighborhood/ki!.!.!. ) were built to take advantage of every possible breeze!. They were also (even slave cabins) usually built off the grounds on piles of brick or rock as this allowed the breeze to circulate under the house!.
According to my old relatives who were born in the 19th century in Alabama and grew up without electricity or running water, contrary to what you often hear, you NEVER got used to it, but there were ways of combating the heat!. On really hot nights people often slept with a bucket of water next to them and would bathe themselves with a rag and any breeze would cool the wet parts of their face!. Both men and women, rich and poor, usually slept in loose cotton nightgowns, which also helped (actually kept them cooler than if they slept naked, which hardly ever happened)!. Before screen mesh was invented some houses had internal louvered shutters so that they could open the windows but keep out some of the bugs, and in some poor households they put newspaper over the open window and poked holes in it with pencils/sticks/etc!., to let in some breeze but keep out bugs!. (They also sometimes burned citronella and aromatic herbs and weeds outside the windows to keep the bugs away, though this stinks and of course even if it's just a smoldering like a candle it's still not a good idea to leave a fire unattended!.)

There were also hand fans (aka "funeral parlor fans") and in some houses there was even a fan rigged from the ceiling that could be moved by a rope to swing back and forth, but this was rare!. As said, most houses had high ceilings- as high as you could afford- and on really hot nights a lot of people slept on porches under netting (which was expensive but still within reach of most families) to ward off bugs!. If you couldn't afford or didn't have netting, you could rig something with sheets!.

My grandfather remembered a summer so hot in the early 20th century that he and his brother slept in coffins their father (a carpenter) had made and kept under the house!. The coffin lid kept the bugs and "critters" out and being under the house made it cool!.

The house I grew up in was of a kind called a dog trot (like the first two pictures above)!. The hallway was open on both sides in order to tunnel the breeze!.

And of course hydrate, hydrate, hydrate- water was the one thing that slaves and masters generally had plenty of access to, and they'd drink and sweat it out!. The heat down here is so bloody humid that sweat doesn't cool you as much as it would in a desert, but there's more of it and if you don't hydrate it'll make you sick from dehydration!.

NO PLACE ON EARTH CAN COMPARE WITH NEW ORLEANS ON A HOT SUMMER, incidentally!. Heat prostration was a common cause of death, and more families owned bathtubs there before running water than almost anywhere else for the cooling and for the smell!.

If you've heard the expression "you can catch more flies with honey" (or sugar, or whichever version you heard) it comes from this time!. Families would leave plates of honeywater/sugarwater to attract the flies, or even glass flycatchers like this one http://www!.southstreetantiques!.com/yahoo!.!.!. (the glass would be baited with honey or sugar water and the top would have a cork or cover, and the flies would enter from the bottom and be caught because they're not good at flying downward)!. My aunts made these out of milk jugs and I've seen them literally filled with dead flies!.

In any case, it was miserable, but they had several methods!. Most did NOT have a slave girl fanning them, even in rich families!. Slaves slept at night also and unless you owned hundreds you just couldn't afford to keep one up all night fanning the family!.

One thing you'll notice in southern cemeteries if that if you look at the birthdates of the people born before air conditioning you'll see the vast majority were born in summer or fall, with few born in winter, and then hardly any born in spring!. Spring's 25% of the year but was well under 10% of the births, and that's because babies born in spring were conceived in summer!. When it's 105 degrees at noon and 98% humidity and you've been working outside all day and it's still over 80 degrees even after sunset at night and there are flies and mosquitoes and you've cooked over a fire, etc!., the LAST THING IN THE WORLD you feel is romantic!. OTOH, winters were mild in the south, and cuddling under blankets was a good way to keep as warm as you needed to, so the birth rate soared 9 months after winter and fall!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Antebellum plantation homes had high ceilings (hot air rises, away from the residents)!. Windows were large and usually left open (beds were surrounded by "mosquito bars," large nets of fine mesh cloth that barred mosquitos)!. People in the South retired later than elsewhere due to the fact that the night cooled things off later!. Thus, people would "sleep in" when possible!. also, people dressed in casual clothes during the early part of the day, even the wealthy, thus people would drop off their calling cards to let the homeowner and family know to expect a visit later that day---advance notice so the family could dress formally for the expected visit!. Many planters would maintain homes on beaches on the coast (often with disastrous results, due to hurricanes)!. When mosquitos were not a problem, porches were often used as bedrooms!. Later, after "the war," Southern Victorian homes had sleeping porches (screened in porches) on the sides and/or back of the house---the main or front porch being unscreened and for enjoying the cool afternoon and evening air and for socializing!. Often during the day, especially after meals, people would sit out under the shade trees and on the front porch!. Ideally, lawns were shaded by trees tall enough to allow air flow up to and into the house!. Thus fast growing trees with dense foliage were popular yard trees!. In pioneer times, dogtrot cabins were popular!. These were homes of two rooms seperated by a covered porch in between them, with the roof running the full length of the three spaces!. The porch was for sleeping during hot months of summer!. At night people could often be seen on porches soaking their feet, not so much to wash them but to cool the body as the night wore on!. Often they'd rock in rocking chairs as they did so!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There were a few ways!. One is that they had screened sleeping porches, something you can still find in use in some southern homes today!. Another thing that was instrumental especially in New Orleans was the particular way that they structured the home allowing for the most cross breeze!. When they did have slaves, and later servants, they had these elabortate fans that were rigged up from the ceiling and had a paddle like thing that waved back and forth when the slave or servant pulled on a robe, sorta like pulling a rope on a large church bell!. They employed this method while sleeping but primarily during meals when they couldnt fan themselves like they typically did!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You get used to the heat, first of all!.!.!. I lived in Alabama and went through two summers without A/C!.!.!. you get used to the heat!.!.!.!.

The slaves, they sweated!.!.!.

Most houses in the South have high ceilings and a lot of doors and windows!. Heat rises, so the high ceilings help circulate air as hotter air rises to the ceiling and cooler air, brought in through the doors and windows, remains nearer the floor!.!.!.

And, if you owned slaves, yes, you had one or two fan you throughtout the day!. Most people didn't own slaves (or where slaves), and they just adapted to the heat!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

They didnt really, it was just freakin hot!. A lot of people in the mid east sleep on the roof at night, but not so much on plantations!. In the deep south it is OK to be sweaty all the time!. Drink lots of water and you get used to it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Living on plantations a hundred fifty years ago!? Good Lord! As late as the 1950's air conditioning was not routinely found in the south!. High ceilings and fans helped, but it was just HOT!Www@QuestionHome@Com

They didn't actually keep cool, but they carried little fans and spent a lot of time fanning themselves!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Watch Gone with the Wind when all of the girls take a nap at the barbeque at Twelve Oaks!. They had slaves fanning them!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

screened sleeping porchesWww@QuestionHome@Com

A/C that simple, they do have electricity!.Www@QuestionHome@Com