Living without electricity in old-time Phoenix


My electricity went out yesterday for about two hours in my little suburban neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona. And while it certainly wasn't life-threatening (it was a beautiful day in the mid-70s), it was a reminder of how much I take electricity for granted, and find it hard to imagine living without it. But people did for most of history, and people did in old-time Phoenix for quite a while, too.

If we time-travel back to 1872, when Phileas Fogg was traveling around the world in 80 days, there would have been no electricity in Phoenix. Of course people knew about it, Benjamin Franklin being the most famous person who did, but as a practical tool it had quite a way to go. And like any technology, it was slow in coming to remote places, which is what Phoenix was in 1872.

And like any new technology, not everyone got it at the same time. My best guess would be that the fancier businesses got it first, then the people on Millionaire's Row in Phoenix. It's like having a cell phone, there was a time when very few people had them.

My first thought of Phoenix without electricity is how dark it would have been at night. Sure, there would have been light from lamps, etc, but nothing as bright as what electricity does. The stars must have been amazing, even in downtown Phoenix.

Of course, without electricity there would have been no air conditioning, no internet, things that we Phoenicians can hardly live without. Speaking for myself, I've never lived anywhere that didn't have electricity, I never even liked going camping. But at least when you're out camping, you have batteries! I was using my cell phone yesterday, since it runs on a battery, but then I stopped because once the battery ran out, I had no way to charge it until the electricity came back on.

I talk to a lot of people who are concerned about what would happen if our technology failed. And when you think about it, most of the places where people live are technology traps. Without basic technology, like electricity, people in Phoenix would be in big trouble fast.
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