Early US and UK thermometers.
This is the time of the year in the US when you suddenly don’t need the heating set on 68 Fahrenheit (20 Celcius) any more. We were looking however at a couple of old room thermometers we own, one from the US from about 100 years ago, and one, in black “Bakelite”, from Britain from the 1950s, So, you New World wimps, the British comfort zone then was 60 to 70 degrees (15 to 21 Celcius) – you just dressed warmly. In the US, the comfort zone was the current 68 to 72 degrees (20 to 22 Celcius), but if you look carefully, it recommends a bedroom temperature of 50 degrees (10 Celcius) or less. We have unheated bedrooms upstate NY, and in the Winter is gets way below 50, but with a warm duvet we do just fine. It’s very cozy and a great way to save energy.