My book: If It Broke, We Fixed It — https://hankdorsey.gumroad.com/l/if-it-broke

The house I grew up in had no furnace until 1963. A wood cookstove in the kitchen, a coal stove in the front room, and frost on the inside of my bedroom window. And we weren't unusual: in 1940, fewer than half of American homes had central heat, and three out of four burned coal or wood. These are ten habits the men I grew up around kept every day from October to April, where they came from, why they worked, and which ones I still keep.

In this video:
heating one room and closing off the rest
banking the house with straw bales
living with a coal stove: the chute, the grates and the clinkers
wool long johns (the union suit was patented in 1868, for women)
dressing by the stove, and why frost forms on the inside of the window
the soapstone bed warmer
sleeping in a cap (and the myth about losing half your heat through your head)
a quilt over the doorway
the Saturday night bath
"wood warms you twice"

Stay safe with these. Never close off a room with water pipes on an outside wall. Take straw away from the house every spring and keep it clear of vents. Always wrap a hot stone or brick, and never use one for someone who can't feel their feet. When you shovel snow, push it, don't lift it, and stop when you're winded. Anything that burns should be checked by a pro.

Tell me in the comments which of these you grew up with, and the habit I didn't mention. I read every one of them, and the next video comes out of what you tell me.

CHAPTERS
0:00 No furnace until 1963
1:02 Who I am
1:53 1. Heat one room
2:42 2. Banking the house
3:50 3. Living with coal
4:45 4. Wool long johns
5:50 5. Dressing by the stove
6:49 6. A hot stone in the bed
7:41 7. Sleeping in a cap
8:43 8. A quilt over the doorway
9:33 9. The Saturday night bath
10:29 10. Wood warms you twice
11:28 What I noticed
11:55 Go close one door tonight


If it broke, we fixed it. Still do.