Kmflett's Blog

The letter below is not the proof that climate change deniers may be looking for..

The temperature in Manchester on 4th August 1856 was 25C, warm certainly but well below temperatures reached in 2026 on a regular basis.

As ever context is key. Engels could only try and cool down by bathing and drinking a ‘variety of other fluids’- primarily Pilsner beer no doubt.

However there was no refrigeration, or air conditioning in 1856

ENGELS T O MARX

IN LONDON

Manchester, 4 August 1856

Dear Marx,
The letter that didn’t arrive must have melted in the heat. I
don’t know whether you down there too have suddenly been
assailed by this tropical heat which has brought everything to a
standstill, apart from the continuous sluicing and bathing of the
outer man with water and the inner man with a variety of other
fluids. Yesterday I was totally incapable of anything and barely in
a condition to go out. I haven’t stopped sweating since Thursday,
even in my bath; and the sordid work at the office is so exhausting
that afterwards one feels utterly down. Moreover the nights are
equally stifling.