GM founder William C. Durant personally invested in Guardian Frigerator Company in 1918, renamed Frigidaire in 1919. It was owned by GM until 1979, when it was sold to White sewing Machine Company, which was in turn bought by Electrolux in 1986. The Frigidaire was the first self-contained electric home refrigerator, and the term “frigidaire” came to commonly be used as slang for all refrigerators.
Frigidaire engineer Keneth Sisson is credited with the design of the incremental timer, which came to be universally used on washing machines and dish washers. Frigidaire washer were unique in having an up-and-down agitator movement, called Pulsematic.
Frigidaire made a whole line of high-quality home appliances, and still have a loyal following for their now-vintage units. ’65 GTO? How about a ’65 Custom Imperial Flair Electric Range?
Profitability suffered in the 70s as all workers were represented by the UAW, and wages and benefits made it impossible to compete with lower-cost manufacturers.
The name still exists, but they’re not the same, without the Mark of Excellence.
I have a Frigidaire range by Electrolux. I liked it because the oven racks were heavy duty plus glass top and convection oven. Also a refrigerator.
The GM in the home ad hits home. The house I grew up in had that stove, except in a single oven configuration. My parents purchased the house from a man who owned a very successful appliance store, so it had all manner of unique 1968 era appliances.
I’m still partial to the furnace manufactured by Chrysler. Just no starter motor sound when it kicked on.
When I moved into my house there were avocado green Frigidaire appliances that had to be over 30 years old and they all ran great, and were in mint condition. They were all solid as a rock, and you could tell they were built with care – unlike the crap we buy today. When my wife and I decided to remodel the kitchen we got rid of them. I kick myself to this day that we didn’t keep them!
So much excitement about appliances, the way we get excited over our smart devices today.
Except that those appliances worked reliably for decades, and we consider a three-year-old cell phone to be ancient. Progress?
+1.
I still have my grandparent’s (Nash) Kelvinator that dates back to the late 1930s or so. Still works, but shocks you when you open the door, so it’s offline for now. I’ll eventually restore it for use in my shop.
My parents and my grandmother had gas refrigerators that predated electricity, although I think I remember when we got electricity. My college thermo book had the basic refrigerator design which I found most interesting.
Ah yes, the Servel gas refrigerator. Some friends had an old one in a remote cabin. I had never heard of one before that. The idea of making stuff cold by lighting a fire was (and is) just fabulous.
Our first little studio apartment in LA had a gas Servel. Very quiet!
I think they were somewhat common in LA, because it had so much cheap natural gas. Everyone there had gas dryers too.
Clothes dryers, or weed dryers?
I’m sure you know this but that is dangerous. Probably a two wire system with a short to the chassis. You provide the ground.
First ones I remember were ice boxes. Still may call the frigidaire an icebox when the mood hits just right.
I’ve still got my grandparents’ icebox in the shed – use it to store the gardening tools in. It’d be interesting to put ice in it one day and see how cool the main chamber gets.
Yep, which is why it’s sitting unplugged right now! My grandparents always called it the “icebox,” because that’s what it replaced.
My father bought a Frigidaire spin dryer in the early ’60s which we used for a good 20 or more years until rust took a hold on it. The electrics all worked fine!
Are you living in the UK? I never saw a Frigidaire spin dryer around here but I know that they were available in the UK and that the UK Frigidaire twin tub was available here in Canada. I have the service manual for that machine.
The Frigidaire Imperial must have been a premium line. They look at least 10 years newer than 57 and the gadgets inside did seem pretty cool.
I love also these kind of voice of God speakovers that were so common back then. Does anyone recognize the voice or the model. She must be over 80 by now.
Back in 1957 (and much before), Frigidaire had the Super, Deluxe and Imperial lines. Imperial was the top of the line and Super was for the economy models.
In 1958 they introduced the “Custom Imperial” line for some appliances but not for all. For example, the first year for a “Custom Imperial” refrigerator was 1966.
One appliance that I still want badly is the first “Frost Proof” refrigerator that was introduced in mid-1958 for GM’s 50th anniversary. I have a 1959 which is virtually the same (except for exterior styling and minor changes).
https://flic.kr/p/uLY76L
https://flic.kr/p/uNFT2S
https://flic.kr/p/uLYbLh
https://flic.kr/p/uHt5QX
https://flic.kr/p/uZr3uA
In my opinion, the 1958 version in the picture below looks cleaner but I have only seen it in pictures!
I have the Imperial Frost Proof model fp1-13b-60. It runs like a champ!
I have the 1960 Imperial Frost Proof freezer that matches your fridge!
Growing up with my Grandmother referring to the refrigerator as the “frigidaire” always reminded me of Kleenex, Band-aids, Saran Wrap and Q-tips – the brand name actually becoming the most common representation of the actual product. Other companies make their version of the product but we always seem to refer to it as the most popular brand name. You don’t hear “frigidaire” much any more when referring to a refrigerator, but years ago when I was a kid it was very common as the older generation knew of “Frigidaire” as the top brand and thus called their refrigerators the “frigidaire”.
French-Canadians (like me) still often refer to a refrigerator as a frigidaire. Even in France they do.
Frigidaire used to be GM’s most international division. They were making and selling appliances in many European countries, in Australia, South Africa, South America.
The Canadian factory closed in 1970 and in the end, they were producing vehicle parts and appliances too. Then that plant switched to making vans. For a few years Frigidaire didn’t sell any appliances in Canada after the factory closed, then there was marginal distribution from about 1977 to the end of the GM ownership.
Then White Consolidated (who also had bought Kelvinator, Westinghouse and Philco) bought Frigidaire from GM and the new cheaper Frigidaire appliances saw a better distribution in Canada, they were also made in the former Hupp Canada factory near my hometown along with other cheap WCI brands like Gibson/Roy. WCI was sold to Electrolux in 1986.
So interesting Phil! Never knew that about Frigidaire in other countries! Funny, my Mom bought a 3 door Frigidaire refrigerator in 1983 and still has it to this day. I think hers may be one of the last ones to possibly have some of the old GM Frigidaire technology as it was a 1982 model. It is almond and she loves it. She prays that it never breaks, plus it fits perfectly in her kitchen. The three door setup is really cool, as there is a place for ice and ice cream and such, plus another door for the freezer and the regular refrigerator door as well.
Cooking an omelet right now on my 1970 Kelvinator. I like owning a Nash, even if it doesn’t have dual ignition and nine main bearings.
Paul, have you been inspired by my recent post on the 1966 Buick thread?!
I do have a 1957 Frigidaire Imperial washer and dryer set!
I also collect all kinds of appliances, mostly GM Frigidaire! I mostly like the 1957 and later ones, Frost-Proof refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, washers, dryers, air conditioners and even microwave ovens!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/albums
Here’s a group I made on Flickr that features GM Frigidaire appliances.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1704348@N21/
I also have a Chrysler Imperial, unfortunately, it’s not a Crown or a LeBaron but the Airtemp version!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/17152448629
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/17348050285
I like the challenge of finding or fixing these old appliances and unlike cars, they are cheaper to buy, they don’t need registration and they don’t require as much space! And since very few cares about saving these, I do!
Of course! It was long overdue to have a tribute to these.
I really appreciate this!
hi Phil I own a Frigidaire imperial frost proof in Philadelphia. good shape. still running. if interested contact me. I too think these should be preserved. wescottlaw@yahoo.com
Here’s a picture of my 1957 Frigidaire Imperial washer and dryer set.
I LOVE these!
+1000 Most awesome W/D set ever. I saw those in the film, and had a hormonal reaction. And you have a set!!
You should do a full CC on them, with some detailed pictures and video in action. Seriously.
+1 please write your collection up.
WOW These are *very* familiar to me!
I helped my then-girlfriend in Santa Cruz rebuild one of those Jetsons Frigidaire washing machines (model WI-57 , I know that because I still have the big orange “Repair Master” service book with my notes). The main controls looked more like an old alarm clock than part of an appliance, with large chrome knobs to its side that made me wonder if they were straight off the late-’50s Cadillacs that the same manufacturer was building at the time.
What an innovative machine that turned out to be! One of the first things that struck me was that there didn’t appear to be any way for the water to drain – the tub didn’t have any holes in it. But in use, it all drained in just a few seconds! The tub is slightly thimble-shaped, with a larger diameter at the top, so going into the spin cycle centrifugal force sends the water over the top edge. The advantage to this setup was that the machine has a way of getting rid of that soapy layer of crud that floats to the water surface. Rather than it redepositing on your clothes as it drains, the machine just after the wash agitation cycle would pour some extra water in for a short time to let it overflow over the edge for a bit into an outer tub, draining that crud that rose to the top along with it. This wouldn’t be possible with the usual perforated tub because the water outside it would float back in through the holes. Only after this overflow period would the spin cycle begin. It spun about twice as fast as most older washers to extract more water, thus saving time and energy in the dryer.
One last thing I recall is that when it filled with water when you first start it, it alternated hot and cold water as it filled, using a thermostat to compensate for different incoming water temperatures depending on season and water tank temperature setting. In winter it would keep the hot water on longer and the cold shorter.
For whatever reason, nearly all the American car companies were involved in the appliance biz at the time. GM had Frigidaire. Ford owned Philco which made a full line of appliances as well as TVs. Chrysler had its Airtemp unit which also made window A/C units and hot water heaters for your home. Nash, later AMC, owned Kelvinator. Studebaker-Packard had two appliance brands, Hamilton and Franklin, which they acquired when they were trying to divest their way out of the auto business (before he took the reins at Packard, James Nance ran GE’s Hotpoint appliance division). Around the same time Kaiser built cars, they also built dishwashers. Crosley made refrigerators. So did International Harvester.
Did you know Maytag used to build cars? They did, alongside their main business at the time, farm machinery. Then they attached one of their gasoline engines to washing machine so people in rural areas that didn’t have electricity could have an automatic washer. They quickly became more profitable than either their tractors or cars, so Maytag became an appliance company.
That’s an incredible collection of vintage appliances you have (I see appliances had their Brougham era too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/14702984981/in/album-72157656060092350/). I do own a late-’50s Frigidaire air conditioner (which also looks worthy of a GM dashboard of the era, a Nance-era Hotpoint fridge that was original in my 1951 house, but not much else.
The thermostatic Robertshaw Fulton fill valve that alternately fills with cold and hot water (for the “warm” setting) is unique to the 1957 Frigidaire Imperial washers. (I attached a picture of mine). There were other kinds of thermostatic fill valves used on various brands in the 1950’s but this one is unique.
One of the reasons why most solid tub washers empty their tub so fast is because all the water from the inner tub gets in the outer tub as the spin cycle begins. Then the weight of water helps stabilize the machine while it begins to spin and it’s pumped out of the outer tub slowly to drain. One of the downside of most solid tub machines is the capacity, in the case of this 1957 Frigidaire, it’s 9 pounds and the 1963 and later machines had a slightly larger inner tub which allowed a claimed capacity of 12 pounds. In 1970, when Frigidaire introduced it’s new 1971 1-18 models, they had to get rid of the solid tub mehanism to achieve an 18 pounds mechanism but that’s what most manufacturers had been doing by that time! After that, only the 24″ Frigidaire Laundry Center and GMini washers, the Hotpoint and Speed Queen/Simplicity continued to offer solid-tub washers for a few more years. I do have a Frigidaire GMini washer from 1973 and that’s probably the rarest machine I have.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=33723086%40N02&sort=date-taken-desc&text=GMini&view_all=1
A 1950’s or early 1960s Frigidaire air conditioner is still something I want ! Among the few I have, only my 1966 “Prestige” air conditioner has a Frigidaire “Super Meter Miser” compressor.
Can you post a picture of yours?
This is the most silent window air conditioner that I have. It’s hard to hear the 4 pole 2 cyl compressor when it’s running, the chassis is mounted on 5 springs to isolate the noise and the fan runs slower than most. Unfortunately, window air conditioners got cheaper and cheaper from this point and while some 1970s models achieved better efficiency, they became more affordable and today, they are considered throw-away appliances!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/20616172893/in/dateposted/
Here’s a video of the 1957 Imperial washer at the end of the rinse period and then spinning to 1140 RPM to empty the tub and dry the clothes… This machine has a newer mid-1960s agitator.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/8299998422
Little known fact: these were the styling inspiration for the Dodge Dynasty.
LOL!
Thanks Phil for all the great info – busy at the moment but I’ll post a pic of the a/c & more soon
The only other vintage Frigidaire washer I’ve seen was from the late ’60s and it still had the ’57 style solid tub with the overflow drain setup, but it was substantially larger (though still smaller than in modern machines). With all the empty space at the underneath the outer tub I’d think it would be possible to use this design and still get decent capacity. Another advantage of the non-perferated tubs is that they save water since there’s no water filling the gap between inner and outer tubs during normal washing or rinsing.
I’ve never heard of a GMini washer but I own a GE dryer that looks circa 1970 that would probably be a good compliment to it – it’s about 2/3 the size of a typical dryer but is still usefully capacious, and served me well in my previous apartment that lacked 240v electricity, a gas line, or outside venting, none of which this dryer needs. This is one of only two I’ve ever seen; I’ll post a pic of it too.
I also have a GMini 115V dryer that matches my 24″ washer.
https://flic.kr/p/9qKMbV
I have a 1965, 1967 and two 1968-70 solid-tub Rollermatic washers.
Here’s a 1967 Custom Deluxe. This machine has an infinite water level selector instead of the usual two levels of the “time-filled” solid tub Frigidaire washers. I had just fixed the timer and replaced the water valve on this one.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jLfeuRZ1P4?rel=0&w=640&h=360%5D
And my 1965 Custom Imperial washer spinning to 1000 RPM in 3 steps.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBy4jyMNEPw?rel=0&w=480&h=360%5D
Fiat also sold a line of fridges and washing machines during the 50s-60s. Early ones were Westinghouse models built under license.
Here’s another ad :
Charming.
Quite a few auto manufacturers were into appliances as well. In addition to Frigidaire and Kelvinator, were International Harvester (which we discussed awhile back) and Crosley. The Crosley Shelvador was the first fridge to add shelves in the door. Also, didn’t Ford own Philco at one point?
I read a bio of Walter Chrysler some time back. In it, he had an appliance company spec out a big ice maker for his mansion, probably in the early 30s. When he saw that the compressor was made by Frigidaire, he called the company and said something like “perhaps you didn’t catch my name, it’s WALTER CHRYSLER.” His ice maker was delivered with the compressor of another brand.
Yes – Ford did own Philco for awhile in the 1960s and 1970s then sold it off.
Isn’t it also now owned by Electrolux as well? The other big global white goods manufacturer with many historic brands under its stead is Whirlpool.
Chrysler owned AirTemp at one point. The University I work at has some old houses they bought on the edge of campus, and one of them had an AirTemp window AC unit for years, complete with PentaStar.
Chrysler’s AirTemp division actually goes back way far, and did the air conditioning for the first three or four floors of the Chrysler Building when it was finished in 1929. Although it was mostly industrial stuff for a long time, they eventually got into home heating and air equipment. They were losing money in the 1970s and got sold to Fedders in the mid 70s.
Exactly! In the early seventies, Chrysler even had a factory that built air conditioners in Bramalea Ontario and if I’m not mistaken, at about the same time the US airtemp factory was moved from Dayton Ohio (same city as where GM made it’s Frigidaire appliances) to Bowling Green KY in the same plant that was later bought by GM. This is where my Chrysler Airtemp Imperial was made in 1971 I think. Fedders bought Airtemp from Chrysler in 1975-76.
https://flic.kr/p/spWZbF
There’s even a blog about window air conditioners, Ken who maintains it used a few pictures from my own air conditioners on his blog:
http://air-conditioner-man.tumblr.com/
I learned that International Harvester made refrigerators from watching Friends – one of them had an IH fridge frequently visible. Never seen one in real life. Haven’t seen a Scout in awhile either….
Ford car radios even said PHILCO on the dial.
I have a Kelvinator refrigerator in my laundry room which I refinished. And a 5 year old Frigidaire. At least the badge on it uses retro script.
The Kelvinator has the name and underneath “Product Of American Motors” on the plaque so it’s post merger and pre-sale of the brand in the late sixties. Runs fine, but I have no idea what year it’s from.
Frigidaire washer and dryer set: priceless. Yes on a CAC [Curbside Appliance Classic].
IIRC, Nash bought Kelvinator sometime around 1937. George Mason had run Kelvinator and came to Nash as part of the deal, and succeeded Charlie Nash as top dog of the company. From then on, it was Nash-Kelvinator until the merger with Hudson with resulted in AMC.
I do not know how long AMC kept building Kelvinator appliances. Wait – Wiki says that AMC sold the Kelvinator line to White in 1968.
In my brother’s first house was a Kelvinator refrigerator. What impressed us about its AMC roots was the interior light. The lens was the same as a Rambler dome light!
I just finished to clean and fix a few things on this 1967 range that I got last weekend in Flint. It was a 10 hours drive from where I live but well worth it for me! This has to be one of the most complicated ranges ever built but it still works fine, even the clock works!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33723086@N02/21448237589
And I was surprised to find that it still has it’s original Speed Heat switch that works fine! These sometimes caused problems and they were banned here in Canada after 1959 (but I have a 1959 Canadian range that has it and I also have a US Self-Cleaning Compact 30 that has it but both required that I fix them).
Here’s a video that I made of the Speed Heat on my 1959 Frigidaire. This burner is a 118V burner that is flashed for a few seconds on 236 volts to heat it up quickly. Frigidaire monotube burners, because of their mass were a bit slow to heat up, so this made it much faster!
At the beginning of this year I bought a Frigidaire built-in wall oven based on their ownership by GM and my past experience with the quality of Frigidaire products. When my new oven was delivered I saw the name Electrolux on some of the literature it came with. I kind of figured that my new Frigidaire was a re-badged Electrolux oven, but I did not know the company had been sold off by GM long ago!
I have a mini fridge, a Midland, yes as in CB radio’s, made in Korea in 1978, and still works great.
Our neck of the woods we use the term “The Fridge” but I’m sure thats more short for refridgerator. My mother in the 60’s would lambast any relative that used the term icebox because “we ain’t had one of them for 20 years”. It’s too bad the big three are not as diversified as back in the 50’s and 60’s–Chrysler built rockets in Huntville. One of my co-workers who worked at a Mopar dealer in the 70’s told me after the faulty Lean Burn modules that were co-developed in Huntsville he feared for astronauts lives.
Same sort of thing here, Guardstang, but it was ‘ice chest’. My grandma still used to call the fridge an ice chest though, twenty years after they got electricity. I grew up knowing that old folks called things different names, and never thought about it till I read your comment. It was relegated to the veranda after the power came through in ’48, and used for storage – as you do.
Here’s the old family ice chest – or icebox to you.
And while we’re on old appliances, how about a radiogram? Still works, too.
Who said I live in a historical museum? 🙂
Can you please tell the Make and model of the radiogram
My grandma had a Frigidaire that was bought before I was born
It always amazed me as a kid, to read under the Frigidaire logo: A product of General Motors
Some years later grandpa bought a small Philco TV that had the Ford oval logo on it…. Gosh… Grampa was really a car guy.
Still have a 50’s Frigidaire stove & refrigerator at our lake cabin. They just refuse to die! I also have an old Norge refrigerator which was made by Borg-Warner.
My parents had a Fridgidaire fridge from 53 it went well into the 80s before it got replaced with a new model which only lasted 10 years or so, the quality dropped off somewhere along the line.
My grandparents had a Frigidare refrigerator for over 20 years. They also had an Apex washer, Victor freezer, Admiral television, Philco radio, Chambers range and a beautiful phonograph/radio combo that was a Sonora.
Fridgidaire was also the label used on all of the A/C units in GM cars for years…When Fridgidaire was sold off the label was changed to Delco.
In fact, GM stopped labeling it’s car A/C compressors and components as Frigidaire around 1976, a few years before it sold it’s Frigidaire “Home Environment” division to White Consolidated Industries. In early 1979.
I recently found that appliances labeled as “GM Frigidaire” have been produced for a while after WCI bought it from GM early in 1979. I have seen a GM 1-18 washer with a serial number dating it from as late as 1980. WCI kept the same styling for a while after that but still managed to change every part of the machines. The look-alike machines lost the GM badge and the Rollermatic transmission as well as the “up & down” agitator and replaced it with the inferior Westinghouse transmission and a regular agitator.
Back to car A/C…
The A/C compressor and VIR unit on my 1975 Electra made in March 1975 are still labeled as Frigidaire but those on my former late production 1976 Electra were labeled as “Delco Air”. I don’t know exactly when the switch was made but it’s between March of 1975 and June of 1976…
I’m still unclear about the specifics of the GM Frigidaire sale, but I think White bought only the rights to the Frigidaire brand and logo and their distribution setup, but not the Dayton, Ohio factory that made Frigidaires (which GM retained for auto production) nor the actual appliance dies and innards. White continuted to use a few Frigidaire external parts like control panels and handles bought from the same suppliers that GM used, but inside all of the White-built Frigidaires became badge-engineered Westinghouse products (which White had bought circa 1974, renaming them “White-Westinghouse”). Badge engineering is even more endemic in the appliance business than in cars.
That’s right, but it seems there was a transition period! This GM 1-18 washer (not mine) was built in March of 1980 according to the serial number.
You can see it still says “Product of General Motors USA” and it still uses the Rollermatic transmission which WCI replaced with the Westinghouse transmission.
BTW, while WCI washers looked very similar from the outside to the last GM washer, there were very few parts that matched between the GM ones and the WCI! The cabinets were different, the top, the lid and even the control panels which were look-alike were in fact different.
A handy source for keeping track of (primarily HVAC, but also appliance) brands:
http://www.johnmills.net/work/history.html
Thanks for linking that. Worked in HVAC for years but didn’t know many of them.
We got “Holden'” fridges by Frigidaire here in Australia, a mate’s parents had one.
In a pastel pink, and neither a ’round corner’ nor a “square corner’ style.
Lasted well into the 1980s.
Now days I find its Toyota making the appliances
This is wonderful too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlW3QEHTMGQ
Note at the end GM gave their Frigidaires “The Sheer Look for 1957”. So the Seville had a precedent even before that old Opel….
This reminds me of the Prestcold range of fridges built by Pressed Steel at Cowley, alongside the bodies being build for Morris/BMC/Rover/Jaguar/Rootes et al.
Another brand that is now gone, although BK did have substantial interest in refrigeration into the 1980s
Short but valuable article. I like IT. GM’s Frigidaire became the synonime. Folks in our area used to call all other marques of refrigerators simply as “frigidaire”…
When we moved into our new (to us) house, it had a Frigidaire Imperial refrigerator, in some horrible green color. It worked fine, so it stayed, even though my mother complained about the color endlessly. One day, she decided to defrost it and it all out after a bottle of pop leaked all over the inside. When she got to the freezer section, she tried to remove the ice a little faster, using an ice pick, and when she poked a hole in the evaporator, and got sprayed with a lot of oil. Later that day, we got our new refrigerator, in a more sane off-white.
I guess that’s the way she found to justify to get rid of it!
I don’t mind green-colored appliances but I don’t like defrosting refrigerators!
It’s OK for a beer fridge in a garage but to store food in the house, it must be Frost-Proof!
Mom was the first on the block with an automatic ice maker in her 1968 GE copper tone frost free refrigerator. It lasted 25 years with no issues. She eventually gave it away when she renovated the kitchen. She also had a 1950’s gas Tappen range (white porcelain finish) which would heat up the entire house when dad prepared the Thanksgiving turkey or New Years ham. It too went out the door when the kitchen was renovated. Both of these were built like a rock and weighed a ton!!
Along with a new 66 Impala, grandpa surprised grandma with a new Frigidaire kitchen and laundry. For ranchers living on a modest income this was a big deal! I cannot imagine what a Flair range would cost in today’s money. A year after the surprise grandpa passed away. Thirty years later as grandmas health began to fail her, but her Frigidiare appliances and even the 66 Chev did not. As odd as it may seem I think she found comfort in those appliances for what they represented, I am sure grandpa saved for many years to buy them for her. And just like grandma and grandpa they were stoic and hardworking; doing their jobs without fuss. Today the old ranch house my grandfather built still stands, surrounded by upper middle class look alike homes. I wish I could climb the fence and see if those coppertone Frigdidiares are still chugging away. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were.
Thanks for sharing these memories!