The "Making My Summer Job Easier" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Finishing up my summer printing jobs at the high school where I used to teach and still do the in-house printing jobs.  The past few days has been rather humid in the print shop which creates problems for running the printing press.  The humidity caused the paper to curl which in turn causes feeding problems.  One summer about a thirty-five years ago the print shop was moved to a nearby vacant house the school district owned so the wing where the print shop was located could be upgraded.  The old house had no air conditioning and the fans that were used created as many problems as they solved.  I asked for a few window air conditioners, but that wasn't a high propriety for the school district.  It did make me wonder what printing companies years ago did to solve the high temperatures and humidity problems that could occur in summer months in the north as well as year round in more southern locations.  Just when was air conditioning invented?  It was in 1902 that a young man by the name of Willis Haviland Carrier was given the job of finding a solution for a printing company in Brooklyn that was having problems with the high humidity that caused expansion and contraction in its paper supply on the press.  They couldn't get the registration on their four-color printing press correct.  

Mr. Willis Carrier

The young mechanical engineer made schematic drawings for what would be the first successful air-conditioning system.  Mr. Carrier had just recently graduated from Cornell University and was working for the Buffalo Forge heating company.  The system he devised that year formed the basis of the air conditioner that is in use today.  Air was forced through a filter of a piston-driven compressor where it was pumped over coils that were chilled using coolant.  The cold air was then expelled into a closed space using a fan, cooling the room and stabilizing the humidity.  Oh, if I had only known that the year I had to print in that house.  I could have rigged a device to help with the humidity.  

In this artist's drawing, Mr. Carrier starts the engine that
will drive the world's first modern air conditioning system.

Yes, I know air conditioning  had already been invented... but the school district didn't want to put a Carrier air conditioner in the old house.  The impact of air conditioning can't be overstated.  I'm used to living in an air conditioned house in the hot summer months and while on vacation in the Caribbean I love to be able to leave he beach and head to a nice cool room.  And, as for running the press the past few months, I'm just glad the air conditioner worked for the majority of the time.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.