commercial refrigeration for food service applications owner electrolux website http www.kelvinator.com kelvinator was a home appliance manufacturer that is now a brand name owned by electrolux . it takes its name from william thomson 1st baron kelvin who developed the concept of absolute zero and for whom the kelvin temperature scale is named . the name was thought appropriate for a company that manufactured ice boxes and domestic refrigerators . contents 1 history 2 english operations 3 world war ii 4 merger with nash motors 5 integration into american motors 6 legacy 7 references history edit kelvinator was founded in 1914 in detroit michigan united states by engineer nathaniel b. wales who introduced his idea for a practical electric refrigeration unit for the home to edmund copeland and arnold goss . 1 kelvinator ad from 1920 . wales a young inventor secured financial backing from arnold goss then secretary of the buick automobile company to develop the first household mechanical refrigerators to be marketed under the name electro automatic refrigerating company . 2 after producing a number of experimental models wales selected one for manufacturing . in february 1916 the name of the company was changed to kelvinator company in honor of british physicist lord kelvin the discoverer of absolute zero . kelvinator was among some two dozen home refrigerators introduced to the u.s. market in 1916 . in 1918 kelvinator introduced the first refrigerator with any type of automatic control . 3 frustrated by iceboxes the grand rapids refrigerator company introduced a porcelain lined leonard cleanable ice cabinet . 4 kelvinator began buying leonard s boxes for its electric refrigerated models . by 1923 the kelvinator company held 80 percent of the american market for electric refrigerators . 2 on july 3 1925 kelvinator bought nizer corporation in a tri party merger valued at 20 000 000 . 5 in 1926 the company acquired leonard which had been founded in 1881 . kelvinator concentrated its entire appliance production at the grand rapids factory in 1928 . 4 that year george w. mason assumed control of kelvinator . under his leadership the company lowered its costs while increasing market share through 1936 . english operations edit in 1926 kelvinator limited england was started in london . from simple merchandising of the products of the american factories it grew until it was producing much of its own equipment for the british market . in 1946 it was considered that the time was ripe for this unit to expand and be self contained in its manufacture of kelvinator equipment and the london manufacturing activities were moved to crewe and greatly expanded with a further 19 000 square metres 200 000 sq ft of floor space . the crewe factory was shared with rolls royce motors but burned down in the 1950s and was replaced by a new facility in bromborough cheshire . italian manufacturer candy bought the operation in 1979 together with the use of the kelvinator brand name in the uk and produced both candy and kelvinator products until it closed around 2000 . world war ii edit between 1939 and 1945 the complete manufacturing facilities of the factories group was turned over to the manufacturing of military supplies . in england kelvinator of london contributed to the field of testing airplane components at ultra low temperatures and instruments under high altitude conditions research that was credited as saving the lives of many allied aircrews . the company pledged to introduce the scientific discoveries gained during the war production into its appliances to make them more useful and efficient . 6 merger with nash motors edit on january 4 1937 the company merged with nash motors to form nash kelvinator corporation as part of a deal that placed george w. mason at the helm of the combined company . in 1952 it acquired the altorfer bros. company which made home laundry equipment under the abc brand name . integration into american motors edit nash kelvinator became a division of american motors amc when nash merged with hudson in 1954 . kelvinator introduced the first auto defrost models . 7 8 kelvinator refrigerators included shelves on the inside of their doors and special compartments for frozen juice containers in the freezer . 7 it also pioneered the side by side refrigerator freezer in the early 1950s . 7 9 in the 1960s kelvinator refrigerators introduced picture frame doors on some models allowing owners to decorate their appliance to match d cor of their kitchens . under the leadership of roy d. chapin jr. amc sold off its kelvinator operations in 1968 . 10 amc then purchased the jeep brand from kaiser industries in 1970 . kelvinator joined white consolidated industries a company that had also acquired the rights to frigidaire formerly owned by general motors gibson tappan and white westinghouse product lines . electrolux of sweden acquired white consolidated industries in the early 1980s . in the early 1990s the name of the dublin ohio based holding company changed to frigidaire company . legacy edit in 2005 carrier sold the kelvinator division to national refrigeration of honea path south carolina . the company manufactured kelvinator bunkers dipping cabinets blast chillers reach ins and low and medium temperature merchandisers . the kelvinator brand is used in argentina for a wide variety of appliances marketed by radio victoria fueguina in tierra del fuego . 11 the factory is in this province . 12 likewise the kelvinator brand of refrigerators has continuously been marketed in the philippines since the 1960s by concepcion industries a local maker of air conditioning equipment and refrigerators including other notable brands carrier and condura . 13 the electrolux company built and marketed kelvinator commercial refrigeration products that included stainless steel door refrigerators and upright freezers high performance chest freezers and glass top ice cream display freezers designed to nsf and american national standards institute standards for food service applications . 14 references edit history . electrolux international company . 2007 . archived from the original on 27 december 2007 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . a b hubbert christopher j. 2006 . the kelvin home cleveland heights leads the way to a new and better way of living . cleveland heights historical society . retrieved 24 may 2013 . history of the refrigerator . history.com . 2006 . archived from the original on 26 march 2008 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . a b beld gordon 2012 . grand times in grand rapids pieces of furniture city history . history press . pp. 70 71 . isbn 9781609496296 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . ice machine merger is said to impend ; kelvinator and nizer concerns named in 20 000 000 electrical refrigerator deal . the new york times . 3 july 1925 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . we ll be inside ... looking out advertisement . life . 18 8 39 . 19 february 1945 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . a b c seideman tony ; seideman celine march april 2007 . cold comparisons . old house journal . 35 2 46 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . move the magic of the magic cycle defrosting advertisement . life . 35 7 inside cover . 17 august 1953 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . fabulous foodarama by kelvinator advertisement . life . 40 16 68 . 16 april 1956 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . hyde charles k. 2003 . riding the roller coaster . wayne state university press . p. 276 . isbn 978 0 8143 3091 3 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . historia in spanish . www.radiovictoria.com . archived from the original on 25 april 2012 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . acerca de kelvinator in spanish . radio victoria fueguina . archived from the original on 23 january 2012 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . morales neil jerome c. 16 march 2012 . concepcion industries eyes listing in 2 years . the philippine star . retrieved 24 may 2013 . kelvinator commercial products . www.kelvinator.com . 2012 . retrieved 24 may 2013 . v t e american motors corporation 1954 1987 historic vehicles rambler ambassador by rambler american classic marlin rambler six and v8 rambler rebel military & commercial m422 mighty mite am general division amc ambassador amx concord eagle gremlin hornet italia javelin marlin matador metropolitan pacer rebel spirit ika renault torino renault alliance encore fuego lecar 18i sportwagon medallion premier vam lerma rambler & amc concept cars amitron amx gt cavalier astra gnome electron tarpon xr 400 affiliated with american motors corporation am general australian motor industries beijing jeep chrysler hudson motors industrias kaiser argentina jeep kelvinator nash motors nash kelvinator rambler renault veh culos automotores mexicanos people roy abernethy edmund e. anderson richard arbib a.e. barit georges besse fran ois castaing roy d. chapin jr. richard e. cross robert b. evans charles t. jeffery thomas b. jeffery roy lunn george w. mason gerald c. meyers charles w. nash george w. romney helene rother richard a. teague related topics american center brampton assembly collier motors electrosport energy regeneration brake kenosha engine list of amc engines weather eye category v t e nash motors 1916 1957 historic nash 600 airflyte advanced six ambassador nash healey la fayette metropolitan rambler rebel statesman affiliated ajax american motors hudson jeep jeffery lafayette nash kelvinator rambler people charles w. nash george w. mason helene rother related topics kenosha engine weather eye category retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kelvinator & oldid 743935060 categories american motorsnash motorshome appliance manufacturers of the united stateselectrolux brandsdefunct companies based in michiganamerican companies established in 1914manufacturing companies established in 1914hidden categories cs1 spanish language sources es navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation 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