You know I always have been amazed by those single pane windows in the UK and apparently Ireland. I saw new buildings in the UK 3 years ago that still have them.

We always had them. I do remember, because as a kid, every year my grandmother did a big spring cleaning. That involed my grandfather have to unscrew the frame so my grandmother, my mother and me could clean the panes on the inside. Today there is a vacuum between the panes,  so you can not open them anymore and just have to clean them on the in- and outside.

The old houses had also second window panes, that used to be taken off in summer and put in the attic.