Back in the 1970s, air conditioning was uncommon in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Most buildings had been built before central air conditioning was invented. It was extremely expensive to retrofit the buildings with air conditioning and operate it. At best, people might have a removable window unit in their bedrooms that they would operate on hot summer nights. But for the most part, on the few days a year when you really needed air conditioning, people would simply go to an air-conditioned bar, find a piece of shade, or open their shirts, like this man did.
