How do you keep cool during these hot and humid summer days? Do you duck into the shade? Take a dip in a pool? Park yourself by a fan? Maybe you just avoid going outside altogether and stay in where the air conditioning works the best.

Imagine yourself in a time before electric refrigeration and air conditioning, when options for staying cool were limited. What would you invent to stay cool?

A need plus a little American innovation, and you can get the picture (or pitcher?). The photograph above is of a tilting pitcher displayed in the Pewter and Silver Gallery in Henry Ford Museum.

Although pitchers weren’t new, the real innovation was in inserting metal – then eventually porcelain – liners to keep liquids inside cool. Another bright idea was handling the weight and awkwardness of the heavy pitchers when serving by putting them on tilting platforms. The concept of the double-layered insulating has stood the test of time and remains a popular method for keeping liquids cool.

You can read more about the pitcher above and the one displayed at the Wright Home in Greenfield Village at this Pic of the Month post.

What are your solutions for keeping cool?