I remember the first central a/c unit I ever saw - a chilled water system with and evaporative cooling tower outside with constantly spraying water on pad wrapped water tubes. We didn't buy our first window a/c unit for another 3-4 years, a Curtis Mathis 2ton with a wooden front that made about as much noise as a prop passenger plane (no civvy jets yet). My father cooled the car with soaked cheesecloth over the dash vents, until he bought a Mark IV underdash aftermarket a/c for the Roadmaster. The second home a/c unit I saw was a gas fired ammonia unit - no compressor.

My first cousin's grandfather held some of the original patents on freon refrigeration, but was otherwise a worthless jerk except for two fine sons.

And yes, I remember a picture, too. It reminded me of my window unit a/c install in a popup camper and a generator with a styro cooler cover to kill the sound (semi-melted - we learned to hook up a fan to cool the cover). I also wondered if hauling all the estra weight around cost as much gas as running truck a/c....