@LiberalLibrarian I was seven years old and visiting the Empire State Building with my grandmother. We were in the elevator. It was summer. They hadn't invented air conditioning yet, or deodorant. I was nose high to all the men's armpits. It was a long way up. Air conditioning is one of life's miracles.
@LiberalLibrarian It's memories like this one that make me feel a million years old. I doubt many here on CoSo would recall these times or have an appreciation of what it was like to live when people really stank.
@elbutterfield @LiberalLibrarian
And what were the smoking restrictions like in the Empire State Building back then? Mine was the last generation with smoking sections in bars and restaurants made grimy and blue- or yellow-hazed by the smoke. I bet the full-body reek of smokers didn't help much in even more enclosed spaces.
My beloved tÃo Rene was a heavy cigar smoker. (Cuban, so of course.) I still remember the smell.