Despite it being more than a week into Fall, its still too dang hot for me! Is anybody happy it’s still this warm? If you’re like me you might be trying to beat the heat with some roll-down shades for your porch. In the nineteen-teens, ads start appearing in multiple Mississippi newspapers for “Aerolux No-Whip Porch Shades,” a nationally advertised brand.
The Daily Democrat (Natchez, MS) 6 May, 1914 page 2.
A blurb in the Jackson Daily News in 1912, described the shades in this way…
“Aerolux Porch Shades make hot porches cool, besides they are attractive and durable. They are made of the finest bass wood and galvanized trimmings.”
The Jackson Daily News (Jackson, MS) 9 June, 1912 page 8.
The same type of shades can still be found commercially available today, however, I don’t know if they are still made of basswood. While there may be other uses for these types of shades, I hadn’t seen any until now.
Vicksburg Evening Post (Vicksburg, MS) 2 May, 1914 page 6.
The “Aerolux No-Whip Craft Awnings” appear to be a length of the porch shade applied over a metal framework that projects the shade away from the building. A newspaper ad confirms that…
These are on the same principle as Aerolux shades with exception they are held out at the bottom.
The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, OH) 24 June 1914 page 5.
Another newspaper ad describes the awnings as such…
“Aerolux Awnings are made of the same material and are of the same construction as the Porch Shades. In this construction convenience had been studied with results so favorable that the Aerolux Craft Awning performs many services never before obtainable in an awning.
The wonderful simplicity of this awning and the ease with which it can be adjusted to shade any part of a room or be drawn up so as to be almost invisible when not needed, the fact that it repels heat and the sun’s rays, but admits light and air, will surely stamp it as the most efficient awning on the market.”
Visalia Times-Delta (Visalia, CA) 10 May 1914 page 3.
I suppose they also slice and dice? Has anyone seen one of these frameworks for the Aerolux awnings still in place? Or perhaps the remains of such an awning?
Categories: Historic Preservation
Preservation in Mississippi 
There is one of the no-whip awnings (not sure if there are others) on a house here in Oxford. I always looked at it and thought it seemed weird, but now I have context. On the other hand, I find it intriguing that a man with a suit and tie is feeling very cool and comfortable on that porch, even with shades. After all, 10 degrees cooler than 97 (Yesterday’s temp up here) is still hot!
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