Before air conditioning, children from Jefferson City's South Side explored the city and visited the Capitol basement to cool off.
Local historian Walter Schroeder has captured everyday life in the German-immigrant neighborhood during its heyday of the early 1900s in his latest book, "Southside Sketches."
The 187-page book tells 50 stories from wasps in worship service to ladies' summer canning.
A launch party for the book will 6-8 p.m. Monday at the Coca-Cola Community Room, where visitors are encouraged to bring their own stories of the South Side to reminisce.
Many of the essays began as short pieces included with the minutes of Old Munichburg Association meetings, when Schroeder was president of the organization.
No longer an officer, Schroeder said he received much encouragement to compile those stories, along with more from his blog, into a book.
Although he uses the personal pronoun in some instances to share his personal experience, this is not a biography. Schroeder's personal stories will be compiled into his next work.
The sketches have been researched and expanded from his earlier work.
"I put some meat to the off-the-cuff things written for the minutes," Schroeder said.
Schroeder returned to more than 30 oral histories he has gathered through the years from former residents of the neighborhood. Also, he read through the German-language newspapers, which reported more stories specific to the South Side, he said.
The research helped Schroeder "create more mental images for readers," he said.
Readers will learn about day-to-day life in the South Side through personal experiences and memories. For those who grew up in the neighborhood, the sketches will be full of nostalgia.
He even includes pieces often overlooked in standard histories, such as the gypsy community.
"This is not the same as some histories are, that recount who lived their and what buildings looked like," said the geography professor emeritus. "This is more descriptive of everyday life."
The cost is $12, and proceeds benefit the Old Munichburg Association and its efforts to improve the South Side.
Books are available at ECCO Lounge, The Schaefer House and J Street Vintage.