In 1936, only the very wealthy could afford the commodity of an air conditioner. Very few department stores or cinemas had air conditioners either. Detroit faced the worst heat wave ever recorded in July 1936, just as the Great Depression was beginning to taper off. People walking to work would never return home. They simply collapsed from the heat and died. Hospitals filled up with people.
Morgues were so full, that bodies lined the hallways, because all the slabs were taken. Family members had to come and identify the bodies lined up. Doctors and nurses were fainting at work from the heat. It was intense. In the end, 5,000 people were killed by the heat wave.
The crazy thing is that no one really remembers it. The heat blends in with all the other hot summers faced year after year, even though this particularly hot summer took so many lives.