I can remember the water coolers, my grandma used one in the hottest part of the summer, it seemed like it worked pretty good when it was real hot and no humidity.
In the big turkey houses we have what they call foggers, pressurised water line, spray nozzels shoot a fine mist down in front of all the fans in the house, 15 fans per house, it'll cool down the temp about 15 degrees, but it has to be less than 40% humidity before they recommend using it. we seldom if ever use them up here, it just usually doesn't get that hot.