Katie Schlee




The refrigerator in the Greenbelt Museum was manufactured by a division of the General Motors Corporation. General Motors was organized by William C. Durant in 1908 as General Motors Company of New Jersey. (Compton's) It was later incorporated in Delaware in 1916, therefore becoming General Motors Corporation. (Compton's) During this same time, off the road and into the kitchen society decided "a dependable automatic means for safeguarding food in the homes," was needed. (GM 6) To meet this need the Guardian Frigerator Company was formed in Detroit, Michigan. (GM 6) In 1917, William C. Durant bought the Guardian Frigerator Company as a personal investment. (GM 6) Durant renamed the company and the products "Frigidaire." Little did he know how famous that name was to become.

In 1919, Durant sold the company to General Motors. In 1921, Frigidaire productions and operations were relocated in Dayton, Ohio to become part of the Delco Light Company, Subsidiary of General Motors. (GM 7) Over the next few years Charles F. Kettering, Vice President in Charge of Research, and others, resigned the Frigidaire products.

As the refrigerator wave caught the public, sales grew and grew. Soon, factories expanded, more efficient quantity production methods were created, a larger selling organization was created and prices were reduced. (GM 7) Frigidaire sales took off past those of Delco Light and in 1926 the two companies were separated. (GM 7) At that point, Frigidaire became its own company and continued to grow from there. Frigidaire worked hard to make refrigerators "convenient, dependable, and economical." (GM 7)

By the time Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, more than 7 million Frigidaires had been built and sold. (GM 7) In the U.S. about 12,000 workers were employed in Frigidaire factories. And then, when the U.S. joined the war effort Frigidaire did as well so, the refrigerator production came to a halt. (GM 56) Frigidaire and General Motors produced air craft and weapon parts for the U.S. Military. By 1944, Frigidaire had produced air 200,000 machine guns and 400,000 aircraft controls. Not only did Frigidaire aid with manufacturing war products but their "peacetime" products also helped the military. Refrigerators were used to keep food fresh (ie. keep soldiers healthy), to protect blood plasma in first aid units, and to cool manufactured parts on the factories. (GM 56) Frigidaire won many production awards during the war for its devotion, and quality and quantity of production. (GM 7) Today, the company is back to producing refrigerators and appliances but it is still known for its quality and dependability.


Excerpts from:

Make your Ice Box a Frigidaire

1925 Frigidaire ad (Atwan 137)


Frigidaire maintains a constant, dry cold-keeps food fresh and wholesome in any weather-makes dainty ice cubes and delicious desserts for your table-saves the possible annoyance of outside ice supply- adds greatly to the convenience of housekeeping. And Frigidaire is not expensive. In many localities its operation costs less than ice.

There are thirty-two household models of Frigidaire-twelve complete with cabinet and twenty designed for installation in the standard makes of refrigerators. One of these models will exactly fit your needs. There are also Frigidaire models for stores factories, hospitals, schools, and apartments.

Frigidaire-pioneer electric refrigeration-is backed by General Motors Corporation and by a nation wide organization of over 2,500 trained sales and service representatives.

Prices:

for converting present refrigerators into Frigidaire - $190 and up

Frigidaire complete with cabinet - $245 and up




Other pages related to my site:

The actualrefrigerator in the Greenbelt Museum. This is a detailed description of the refrigerator and since it is a Frigidaire I think it would be a good idea to look at here to get a better idea of how the refrigerator might have looked.

I think it is also a good idea to take a look at this Page that describes how the electric refrigerator worked. This page helps to give an understanding of what Frigidaire was actually doing when then were producing these refrigerators.

Read about Frigidaire Today



References



Atwan, Robert, Donald McQuade, and John W. Wright. Edsels, Luckies, & Frigidaires. Dell publishing Co. New York,
New York. 1979.

General Motors Corporation. GM Frigidaire at War. General Motors Corporation. Dayton, Ohio. 1944

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. "General Motors." Compton's NewMedia, Inc. 1994, 1995


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