History of the fridge: How refrigerators have changed

FROM the ice chest, through to online smart fridges, we look at how refrigerators have changed through the decades, because, why not.

A modern Samsung fridge.

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REMEMBER the first fridge your family bought?

Whitegoods manufacturer Samsung has announced that its new internet-enabled refrigerator is now capable of assisting with the weekly shopping by telling you what foods are needed and whether to buy that extra bottle of milk.

With three in-built cameras, the new fridge can show you its entire contents through an app while you’re in the middle of the supermarket aisle.

If that isn’t enough, simply talk to the fridge to add any items to your shopping list, set timers while cooking, search for a recipe on the net, just play some soothing music or even watch a movie.

It was just over 60 years ago that we had an ice chest in the kitchen.

That’s progress!

The standard ice chest of those days was designed to extend the longevity of perishable food by keeping it cool. It was a double box, the outside of mahogany or other wood, and the inside of sheet tin, the space between being three or four inches.

By filling the space with finely powdered charcoal, well packed together, the box was rendered almost heat-proof so that a large block of ice might be kept for up to 48 hours or longer, even in summer, provided the door wasn’t opened too often.

While the ice chest remained closed, the air contained within it, being in contact with the ice, was reduced to nearly the same temperature and the food remained cold and thus preserved.

In summer, the iceman cometh and delivered a big, clear block of ice two or three times a week. He would sometimes arrive at the kitchen door without warning, yell “ice” at the top of his voice and walk to the ice chest to drop his frozen consignment into the top compartment.

Of course, ice gradually melts and at least once a day, it was necessary to empty the water from the tray underneath the chest.

That was my job and woe betide me if I forgot and water spilt out on to the lino.

It must have been around the mid-1950s when the brand new fridge arrived.

The Kelvinator fridge assembly line at the Keswick factory in about 1940. Picture: State Library of SA / BRG315

It was shimmering white, glossy and very tall (compared with the ice chest). It was the first appliance that was plugged in, turned on and never turned off.

We’d bought our first shiny object.

The ice chest was moved to the sleep-out and spent the rest of its years as storage space.

I can’t recall the brand of the new fridge; however, I can remember it was an “unsealed” unit, which meant it had a separate motor and compressor connected by a belt and so was quite noisy, especially at night.

It was very sparse inside, with a small freezer at the top, just big enough for two iceblock trays or a brick of Amscol ice cream.

And it needed defrosting. Once every six months or so, everything came out of the fridge, the temperature control was set to zero and Mum would scrape away all the built-up ice. It was a messy job and took about a day to complete.

Our next fridge, several years later, was the newest Kelvinator. It was that Kelvinator cream with an enormous shiny chrome handle and a freezer that was as wide as the inside of the fridge itself.

Barbara Marr with a six-cubic-foot Kelvinator freezer, owned by Cornell, an SA-owned electrical retail group, 1961.

Now there was room for the two iceblock trays, a tub of Amscol ice cream and Birdseye fish fingers.

Other outstanding features were it was frost-free, so no more defrosting, and the light came on when the door was opened.

Spectacular!

I’ll never forget, as a kid, wondering whether the light ever really went off.

Those early refrigerators were built to last forever.

I recently came across the story of 74-year-old Geraldine Rowarth who, back in 1957, in the UK, paid 65 guineas for her first fridge. That’s the equivalent of more than $1000 in today’s money. But it was money well spent.

Sixty years later, the fridge was still going strong and sitting in her daughter’s farmhouse kitchen.

Mrs Rowarth recalled how she was heavily pregnant at the time and very excited about buying a refrigerator when the appliances were only just gaining popularity.

The interior of a Colda refrigerator from 1958 or later. Source: Museums Victoria

“Not a lot of people had a fridge in those days,” the retired nurse explained.

“They were very popular in America and I really wanted to have one.

“We didn’t have much money, I was expecting my second child and all we had was a food safe in the pantry, which was little more than a box with mesh on the front to keep the flies out.”

Once the new fridge arrived, it made “an enormous difference”.

“I remember thinking ‘I don’t have to dash to the shops every day’,” Mrs Rowarth said. “It was such a new concept to keep things so cool. Neither of our parents had fridges.”

She used the fridge to store milk, cheese, meat and bacon.

“I can’t believe it’s still going,” she said.

A 1940s kitchen with Lux gas oven and ice chest. Source: State Library of Victoria

Many of the old fridges, as basic as they were, have survived the test of time and now live in the garage or spare room as a back-up or the “beer fridge” for storing drinks or bulk food.

While there is no doubt the refrigerator has made stunning progress from the very humble early years through to today’s internet-enabled creations, I find myself wondering how many of the “smart” fridges being sold today will be operating 60 years from now.

Bob Byrne is the author of Adelaide Remember When and posts memories of Adelaide every day on facebook.com/adelaiderememberwhen