This Pot Can Keep You Cool in the Desert

Arizona was a miserable place in the summer before air conditioning. Yet people have lived and thrived here for millennia, how did they deal with the extreme heat? One trick is the earthenware water jar called an “olla“ that keeps the water inside cool with evaporation. This video takes a brief look at the history of the olla in the old Southwest and then I show how to make one and test out its amazing water cooling effect. The book quoted in this video, “On The Border With Crook“ 🏺 My students and I make pottery together over Zoom every Wednesday evening. Please consider joining us 0:00 Summer In Arizona 0:32 Historic use of ollas to cool water 3:11 Making an olla in the traditional way 6:17 Firing an olla outdoors 8:12 Testing the water cooling ability of the olla ❤️ Please help support my channel Channel membership