Kelvinator
 |
|
| Division | |
| Industry | Appliances |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Products | 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.
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.
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." 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.
Frustrated by iceboxes, the Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company introduced a porcelain lined "Leonard Cleanable" ice cabinet. 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.
On July 3, 1925, Kelvinator bought Nizer Corporation in a tri-party merger valued at $20,000,000.
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. That year, George W. Mason assumed control of Kelvinator. Under his leadership the company lowered its costs while increasing market share through 1936.
...
Wikipedia