Walk into just about any Australian heritage exhibit dealing with life in the bush, outback or mining and you are sure to see a rather curious object. A bread box size container made of metal with a door on one side and a jillion holes hammered into all sides. In its day, food desired to remain cool(er) would be put into the box with a wet cloth covering it. Air would flow through the wet cloth getting cooled as it did so. And, by consequence, so would the food inside. This is called a Coolgardie Box here in Australia.
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| My Coolgardie Box porch |
Before I had ever heard of a Coolgardie Box , I had witnessed this effect first hand here on my back porch. It's a rather small, semi-enclosed porch which houses an outdoor table with chairs, two bikes, some garden implements and a clothes line. When I wash a load of laundry, I will frequently rest with a book and a drink on the porch after having hung the laundry to dry. When even a small breeze passes through, say, these bed sheets, it always felt a real pleasure to pass time there. The breeze was cool, with even a faint waft of the detergent's perfume mixed in it. Or is that scent from the jessanine or gardenia plants at the opening to the porch?
A colleague of mine who spent some time living in the near-tropic state of Queensland remarked that almost everyone there put wet towels in front of fans in the house to cool it down. We're not talking ice cream making temps here but cool enough to make a warm place on a hot day bearable.
Now why hadn't I discovered this before?
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