Gather roun', Chilluns, I'll tell yas about the weather in the olden days of my youth.
Now first off, keep in mind that we did not have air conditioner before about '62 or '63 and we lived right here in the same town all that time ago and ever since. And it got just as blazin' hot back then as she do now. In fact, it was a sight hotter. Remember, no AC. What did we childrens do? By Gar we WENT OUTSIDE and played baseball--at least until 1:00p.m. That's what time the swimming pool opened. Baseball in the mornings and swimming all afternoon. Twilight to sunset we played baseball again. When we got home at night we dropped to sleep instantly we were so worn out. Slept like rocks and woke up and did it all over again day after day. That was all summer long, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Then we went back to school.
I don't recall any "heat index" back then. "FEELS LIKE"??!! Man we KNEW what it felt like. HOTTER THAN A TWO DOLLAR PISTOL is what it felt like. We didn't have no ice water, or soft drinks, or none of that sissy stuff. WE DRANK WATER FROM THE GARDEN HOSE like real men. And often we doused our head-bones with that water from the same hose.
Now I was fortunate in that my Father (rest his bones) was a school teacher, and he had the entire summer off just like I did. BUT he worked for the City all summer--as the "manager" of the local swimming pool. Which gave us kids (me and my two sisters) virtually the run of the place. Free admission, early admission, usually free soft drinks and candy, and the eternal admiration of the other local kids (who thought that we OWNED the pool...in reality my Father only managed the pool, collecting entrance fees, managing the chlorine content, cleaning the bathrooms, managing the lifeguards schedules, and mending cuts and scratches.)
Now, because my Father "owned" the pool, my sisters and I naturally became very good swimmers, and we all took Lifesaving classes from the Red Cross and became qualified as official money-making Lifeguards at the pool. My sisters were older than me and lifeguarded even when I was too little. I ran the candy stand and took admission money. Much candy and admission money found its way into my pockets. My sisters were very popular with the teenage boys. Eventually I became old enough to Lifeguard as well, and I gained my own "fan club" of junior high and high school girls.
The first day I worked "on the stand" (sitting on the high up perch for the lifeguard) I made the mistake of not using sunscreen. I got sorely blistered (what is termed "second-degree" burns). Lord have mercy, that is sun that you do not want. I think I had a bit of heat exhaustion too, but by virtue of my practically constant acclimation to hot blistering sun I survived. Thankfully by that time we had a window unit air conditioner installed that cooled one room in our house and I stayed in that room for several days "recovering" from the sun burn.
Of course nowadays we have "central" AC and nice cool water or drinks and spend our lives indoors in nice cool office buildings. The last time I "guarded" was in about 1972 I think. My dad retired from the pool management sometime in the 80s. The pool is still there and is still open. The "high dive" is gone (too dangerous, too much liability). The "low dive" is now a kiddy slide. The few times I've driven by, it is still packed with kids on a hot day. I need to go by and visit sometime and maybe get a "Sno-Cone" for old time sake.
Yes indeed it was hot as blazes back then. Still is...today was about 110F again, but it doesn't seem as hot...I guess because now I spend the days inside in the AC, unlike back then. If I could turn back time, I'd go back in a heartbeat just to do it all over again.