Kelvinator - History

History

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.

By 1923, the Kelvinator Company held 80 percent of the market for electric refrigerators. In 1926, the company acquired Leonard, which had been founded in 1881. In 1928, George W. Mason assumed control of Kelvinator. Under his leadership the company lowered its costs while increasing market share through 1936.

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 brand 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.