Are these "Swamp Coolers"?

[Deano]

OK ... so I'm sorting through a box of tiny parts and I run across these. They look for all the world like "swamp coolers" but I can't think of any kit that had them. So, my questions ... If they ARE "swamp coolers", where did they come from? If they're NOT, what are they (and where did they come from)?

Thanx!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sure has a strong resemblance...

...or maybe some bizarre headrests from a way-out kustom??

[jacoballardtattoo]

These type of coolers were used in the old VW bugs that may be where they are from.

[Art Anderson]

Those so-called "Swamp Coolers" were both an accessory sold in the hotter, drier parts of the US back in the late 40's to at least the early 60's, as a way of providing cooling for cars being driven in the heat of summer. They worked by filling them with ice (some even used so-called "dry ice"--which is frozen CO2) which was packed into them. They worked by the forward motion of the car, which forced air into the front, which blew past a set of tubes, then into the body of the car through a slightly opened window. As the ice, or dry ice melted, it cooled that incoming air.

I can still remember seeing, on a legendary family trip from Indiana to southern Arizona, in December 1957, seeing signs at gas stations in the Southwest, signs advertizing those things--rent it here, get it refilled at your next gas station (seems to me that there were rental companies of that sort of thing, who signed up gas stations along major highways out there back in those days), or just return the rental unit if you were on your way back to your more temperate part of the country.

Art

[jacoballardtattoo]

Wow that is some cool information Art, thanks. I was familiar with there existence but not much more than that, I'm in Arizona and I tried finding one for my 63 Baja around 2001. Either i didn't look hard enough or they were not very available because I never did find one.

Now knowing how they work i could have built one. (Maybe)

[southpier]

here you go: http://burningman.rengeekcentral.com/swampcooler.html

[espo]

They sure look like the old coolers I remember from my youth, but they also look somewhat like big rig air cleaners. Either way you should use them as a cooler for your project.

[10thumbs]

This is the first I've ever heard about these things.