Car Companies that built refrigerators and other appliances.

[Jim Bollman]

3 hours ago, rocketraider said:

Wonder what type ammonia was used in an Icyball?

 

Best I have been able to find out the original Crosley Icyball charge was approximately 6 pounds anhydrous ammonia and 8 pounds water. I have one that the best I can tell was made around 1928. I have tried it several times (with great caution) and it still works fine. I once got up early for a local engine/tractor show, charged the Icyball and loaded in the back of my Crosley FarmOroad and drove 10 miles to the show. I sat it on a table as part of my display with a thermometer sitting in the hole for the ice cube tray. At noon with no insulation around it on a warm August day it was still measuring about 40 degrees.

[rocketraider]

21 hours ago, 5219 said:

In the 1930's, GM marketed a line of DC battery powered radios and appliances for rural areas that did not have electricity. I think that they used the Delco name. I have always wondered if GM made much money in these ventures. Since they don't seem to have lasted very long, I guess not.

Delco also supplied the Delco-Light rural farm and home lighting system. Generator set with glass jar battery cells. A friend's grandfather had a Delco-Light system on his farm near Roxboro NC back in the 1920s.

 

I have a couple of generic and one Exide branded battery jars as other companies also made rural power sets, but a Delco-Light script jar has eluded me.

[Frank DuVal]

Oh where to start, so many comments.

 

11 hours ago, rocketraider said:

but they're also generally safe and won't burn, kill or blind you like NH3 will.

CFCs will blind you if it gets into your eyes and freezes them. Wear your safety glasses.  I've had a close call. Same with frostbite on the fingers. In July? Yep, can happen. I agree, NH3  has extreme safety issues.

 

22 hours ago, 5219 said:

n the 1930's, GM marketed a line of DC battery powered radios and appliances for rural areas that did not have electricity. I think that they used the Delco name.

Delco 32 volt windmill system. WinCharger. Charged 32 volt bank of batteries when the wind blew. 32 volt lamps and radios, known now as "farm" radios on the antique radio market. Lots of manufacturers made the farm radios. Seems only Delco and Zenith promoted a line of the WinCharger windmils.

 

These are not the A and B battery radios of the 20s. Those radios ran on 6 a 6 volt battery (borrowed form the family car) to power the tube filaments and a B battery dry type of around 90 to 135 volts for the plates.

 

16 hours ago, playswithbrass said:

Did not Buick invent vitreous enamel that all white goods are covered in

Yep!, David Dunbar Buick invented a method of covering cast iron with white vitreous enamel for his plumbing goods company before he formed a car company.👍

 

23 hours ago, 5219 said:

central refrigeration units for large apartment buildings. The building would be plumbed for refrigeration lines, and each apartment would have its own refrigerator box with the cold piped in from one central unit.

I was visiting an apartment building in Richmond's Fan District and saw copper tubing coming out of the wall in the kitchen. Yep, one of those central refrigeration systems from the teens/twenties, long since removed.

 

I forgot, GE makes jet engines, so I guess I need to get one of those to go with my GE antique refrigerator! Or maybe the whole jet.....

 

Same for those people with A Rolls, get the jet engines or whole plane too!

 

 

[lump]

Some of you may already be aware that the Hupp Motor Car company was saved from financial ruin by war production, and after the war never went back to automobiles. They produced Gibson brand appliances (and Hercules engines, among other things). Gibson was eventually bought out by either Frigidaire or White (both, now?). 

 

[Steve Moskowitz]

Thought you guys would have gotten to the REO lawnmowers and other appliances by now.

[RustyTinman]

Here is one that built cars also.1912 you ordered it from the catalog I was told. Just one of many of my cool transport jobs.

Edited October 11, 2022 by RustyTinman
Photo (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

I had a Reo reel mower back about 1960. Well, may dad did... and he used it to power my go-kart. We used it in an adjacent vacant lot and he figured it would not go fast enough to hurt the neighborhood kids.

[rocketraider]

4 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

Thought you guys would have gotten to the REO lawnmowers and other appliances by now.

I knew Ranny made cars, trucks and mowers, but not appliances. Enlighten us!🙂😎

[keiser31]

Chadwick started out making stoves.

[Larry Schramm]

On 10/8/2022 at 5:47 PM, Durant Mike said:

Thank Billy Durant for adding Frigidaire to the GM Line!  A visionary for sure!

 

 

Billy Durant brought Frigidaire into the GM family and Roger Smith sold it off.

[rocketraider]

34 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said:

 

Billy Durant brought Frigidaire into the GM family and Roger Smith sold it off.

Let's not get into the havoc he wreaked on the General!

 

Note my earlier comment about having GM Frigidaire instrument air dryers until we got reduced to trolling ebay to get spare parts because GM no longer supported them. They worked great long as you could keep genuine GM parts in them!

[8E45E]

1 minute ago, rocketraider said:

Let's not get into the havoc he wreaked on the General!

Was he CEO of GM in 1979 when Frigidaire was sold off?

 

He did sell off the Coach division which was producing the troublesome RTS transit bus in 1987.

 

Craig

[Larry Schramm]

13 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

Let's not get into the havoc he wreaked on the General!

 

Note my earlier comment about having GM Frigidaire instrument air dryers until we got reduced to trolling ebay to get spare parts because GM no longer supported them. They worked great long as you could keep genuine GM parts in them!

 

I kept our washer & dryer running for as long as I could with GM parts until you could not get parts any more.  After having it for about 25 years we finally went out and bought a new pair.

 

The washer was really significant as the agitator went up and down instead of a back & forth circular motion.

[Pfeil]

12 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said:

 

I kept our washer & dryer running for as long as I could with GM parts until you could not get parts any more.  After having it for about 25 years we finally went out and bought a new pair.

 

The washer was really significant as the agitator went up and down instead of a back & forth circular motion.

I remember those agitators. BTW our new Washer isn't worth a darn. If someone made a washer that the agitator rotated back and forth and up and down, I think my wife would really be interested!😉

FYI, I have our old (1964) Maytag in my shop that I use on the Terry towels for the cars. It never leaves soap in the towels like the new washer does.

[Pilgrim65]

thought there may be a connection between singer cars and singer sowing machines , but apparently no company connection , but oddly the founder of singer cars started his career in the manufacture of sowing machines 😁

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, Pilgrim65 said:

thought there may be a connection between singer cars and singer sowing machines , but apparently no company connection , but oddly the founder of singer cars started his career in the manufacture of sowing machines 😁

Singer became a huge conglomerate where the sewing machine division was a spit in the bucket of all the divisions which they sold off sometime in the 1980's, or maybe earlier.  Singer has an electric controls division which supplied automotive switches.  I have seen the Singer name and script on some early 1980's Ford power window switches.

 

Craig

[Fr. Buick]

I was a grad student in Rome 15 years ago, and found a very cool looking - and still functional - Fiat brand fridge from the 1960s.  So go figure.

 

Seems like all the big corps were hoping for some cross pollination in terms of designing, making and selling. And aiming toward cheap and effective auto AC.

 

I have a stock Frgidaire AC system in my 54 Buick.  They say the compressor came off the Frigidaire parts shelf, the same unit for meat lockers in butcher shops and rail cars.  It was put in before one could be made specificly for auto use.  Damn heavy, but it still holds pressure and pumps.  A 585 dollar option in 1954.

[gossp]

Every now and then I run across a Chrysler AC still in use. The Air-Temp name is used to this day but is a Nortek product. 

Edited October 13, 2022 by gossp (see edit history)

[8E45E]

And there are washing machine companies that made cars and trucks at one time.

 

Doesn't someone here own a Maytag car or truck?  

 

Miele in Germany:  Miele (1912-1914) - The Old Automobile (lautomobileancienne.com)

 

And the Lightburn Zeta, a car Australians wish they could forget:   The story of the Lightburn Zeta Runabout on Below The Radar (below-the-radar.com)

 

Craig

[wayne sheldon]

Not a battery radio.

I have a 1931 General Motors plug-in electric radio and phonograph. Big and proud, on the end of the tone arm, is the "GM" logo and "General Motors" name.

The thing is almost four feet tall, on spindly legs, with two little doors front and center behind which are the radio tuner and dials. It is a neat looking radio! My wife heard it play before she bought it. But I have never turned it on. Those familiar with such things won't until after the circuits have been rebuilt.

[Terry Bond]

The White steam car was built by the White Sewing Machine Company. 

[Terry Bond]

While we're talking about sewing machines - Opel was a car that was also produced by a sewing machine company.

 

It's also probably not known that Triumph cars (and before that, motorcycles) originated with a company that imported and sold sewing machines.

 

I understand Suzuki grew from a company that originally made weaving looms.

 

Terry

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Terry Bond (see edit history)

[8E45E]

9 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

While we're talking about sewing machines - Opel was a car that was also produced by a sewing machine company.

In Germany, Adler also made typewriters and adding machines. Adler | History (adlerbikes.de)

 

Craig

[M1842]

HN White also made brass musical instruments: trumpets, trombones, french horns, tubas, saxophones, and metal clarinets.  I have a gorgeous HN White King clarinet from 1938, that came with a sterling silver bell.

[Bryan G]

Toyota started by making looms, and still does:

https://www.toyota-industries.com/products/textile/weaving/

Not sure how related they are today. I saw one of their setups on Marketplace recently, small enough for someone to use at home if they wanted to be that advanced.

Mitsubishi was/is involved in electronics (the two divisions may have been split off by now.) Electronic giant Samsung built cars in Korea, now apparently part of Renault. 

 

I believe by the early 80s White Consolidated had bought Kelvinator, Frigidaire AND Philco's major appliance division, plus Hupp's old Gibson division.

[Hemi Joel]

After WW2, the Auburn automobile company, (who had merged with Central Manufaturing company and re-branded as "Auburn Central") made home appliances, kitchen sinks and cabinets. 

[Stude Light]

On 10/11/2022 at 4:15 PM, rocketraider said:

I knew Ranny made cars, trucks and mowers, but not appliances. Enlighten us!🙂😎

Mr. Olds organized the Ideal Engine Company in 1906, another stationary engine business. Always the tinkerer, he began developing other uses for their engines and, in 1915, he received a patent for the  gasoline powered lawn mower. It utilized an Ideal air-cooled hit & miss engine and started a  new industry.

Following its rapid success, the company changed its name to the Ideal Power Lawn Mower Company in 1922 and began purchasing smaller engines from Briggs & Stratton and the Indian Motorcycle Companies to use on their lawn mowers. In 1946, the REO Motor Car Company decided to get into the lawn mower business using Clinton and Briggs & Stratton engines. The Ideal Company was liquidated and merged into the new Lawn Mower Division of REO. In 1949, REO developed their own engines which are easily recognized by the unique ‘slant head’ cylinder and drove the mower from the camshaft, not the crankshaft. By 1950 REO was the largest lawn mower manufacturer in the world.

REO also made snowblowers

They even made a kit to convert your row boat into an inboard powered boat, called the Trollabout

Either RE Olds or the REO company was thinking about getting into the refrigerator company as this prototype exists

 

All this is at the RE Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing, MI

[Pfeil]

Porsche Design

<wireless earphones

>>>Perfume

[Rusty_OToole]

No mention of Studebaker's  Franklin Appliance division who Manufactured private label kitchen and laundry appliances for major retailers. I don't know what brands they made but you could call them Studebakers, related by divorce.

Studebaker also made Gravley tractors and Onan engines and generators.

[Frank DuVal]

On 6/18/2023 at 11:01 PM, Stude Light said:

REO also made snowblowers

OMG! I had a reel mower given to me about 1962 that looked very similar. I never knew it was Ransom Olds behind the REO name.

[rocketraider]

1 hour ago, Frank DuVal said:

OMG! I had a reel mower given to me about 1962 that looked very similar. I never knew it was Ransom Olds behind the REO name.

😳

[lump]

Adler Motor Werks of Germany also made the famous typewriters of the same Adler name. Attached is a photo of the 1933 Adler I used to own (Anyone happen to know where it is today?)

[Stude Light]

2 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

OMG! I had a reel mower given to me about 1962 that looked very similar. I never knew it was Ransom Olds behind the REO name.

Ransom Olds was only with Olds Motor Works less than 5 years. After leaving in 1904, he wanted to create the RE Olds company but the Smiths, who were the primary investors in Olds Motor Works, claimed rights to the Olds name and threatened to sue him so he settled on his initials instead and about put them out of business until Billy Durant saved Olds Motor Works by bringing them into General Motors in 1908.

[Jim Bollman]

I seem to remember my Dad having a REO reel mower growing up with a differential so you could turn easier. It was wider than the normal real mower and heavy so it helped.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Now here's a question, since car fans might want to

own a related antique refrigerator:

 

CAN ANTIQUE REFRIGERATORS BE REPAIRED AND RESTORED?

WHO DOES THAT WORK?

 

For example, are the refrigerant lines accessible if they leak?

Do people convert them to a more current refrigerant?

Is there a network of suppliers and people who repair and rebuild parts?

 

I myself have an old chest freezer, and the ordinary repairman says

that refrigerant lines are inaccessible to repair a possible leak, and

that it should be junked.  He's wholly unaware that people restore

old appliances.

[Str8-8-Dave]

So my late brother Al was an executive engineer at Ford and had an assignment to give a video presentation to Phil Caldwell who was first non-Ford-family employee to run the company.   Around this time Ford was jettisoning Philco Aeroneutronics operations Ford had acquired some years before.   At the appointed hour Al had the AV services people wheel the Sony TV monitor and tape deck into Caldwell's office, gave a short introductory briefing to Caldwell and said, "so unless you have a question I will play the tape."  Caldwell looked up and said "As a matter of fact I do have one question.  Why the hell isn't this presentation going to be played on a Philco TV set?"  at which point Caldwell got up from his desk and walked out.

 

Oh- I almost forgot.  You all know British automotive electrical supplier Lucas makes refrigerators, right?  It explains why Brits drink warm beer...

Edited June 21, 2023 by Str8-8-Dave (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

1 hour ago, Str8-8-Dave said:

So my late brother Al was an executive engineer at Ford and had an assignment to give a video presentation to Phil Caldwell who was first non-Ford-family employee to run the company.   Around this time Ford was jettisoning Philco Aeroneutronics operations Ford had acquired some years before.   At the appointed hour Al had the AV services people wheel the Sony TV monitor and tape deck into Caldwell's office, gave a short introductory briefing to Caldwell and said, "so unless you have a question I will play the tape."  Caldwell looked up and said "As a matter of fact I do have one question.  Why the hell isn't this presentation going to be played on a Philco TV set?"  at which point Caldwell got up from his desk and walked out.

 

Oh- I almost forgot.  You all know British automotive electrical supplier Lucas makes refrigerators, right?  It explains why Brits drink warm beer...

Brits drink warm beer?????? No, they drink ale. Ale is stored in the service porch area of the house or in a larder-a room away from the kitchen where it is about 55 degrees, and the reason is, the ale gives off its best flavor at that temperature than if it were refrigerated. And pour your ale with gusto. Putting a lot of head in the glass or tankard lets the ale bubble and release its flavor, otherwise if you don't it bubbles in your stomach where it does no good.  "CHEERS"

[Bloo]

2 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

Now here's a question, since car fans might want to

own a related antique refrigerator:

 

CAN ANTIQUE REFRIGERATORS BE REPAIRED AND RESTORED?

WHO DOES THAT WORK?

 

For example, are the refrigerant lines accessible if they leak?

Do people convert them to a more current refrigerant?

Is there a network of suppliers and people who repair and rebuild parts?

 

I myself have an old chest freezer, and the ordinary repairman says

that refrigerant lines are inaccessible to repair a possible leak, and

that it should be junked.  He's wholly unaware that people restore

old appliances.

It's possible to have such things done, but unlikely that you would have anyone local. There are companies who "restore" antique appliances, and in the case of refrigerators and freezers generally gut them for modern refrigeration. That is highly questionable in my opinion given the typically short lifespan of a modern refrigerator. There are also hobbyists who can and do restore the original mechanisms. A substitute refrigerant is typically used, at least in units that originally specified R-12 or Sulfur Dioxide. You might find davida1hiwaaynet on youtube interesting to watch.

 

There are of course inaccessible spots in the lines where a leak can exist. My parents had a refrigerator in the 70s and 80s, the make I have forgotten the name of but it was a common one built in the American midwest. It was a plain box like many of it's time (and now) with a bunch of tubing running around inside the walls for an evaporator. This manufacturer had cheaped out and used steel tubing which rusts out. It was leaking. In the 80s, a repairman offered to disassemble the whole thing and replace all that steel tubing with copper for what I thought was an extremely reasonable price. He was originally from the state where these were made, and had fixed a large number of them "back home" successfully. My parents opted to just have it charged instead. Then it failed completely and defrosted while they were on vacation flooding the kitchen....

 

Back on topic, Hupp made air conditioners and possibly other appliances in Canada long after they gave up on the car business.

 

 

[Frank DuVal]

9 minutes ago, Bloo said:

at least in units that originally specified R-12

Of course you can just put R-12 back in those units that originally had it. Not like the quantity held is great, not like a car!

 

I have friends that have had their antique refrigerators repaired in the Richmond VA area. I do not know cost, etc. 

 

If all you need is a gasket, there was a company in California that made custom gaskets for commercial coolers and had the correct profile for home GEs of the 40s and 50s. Oh, still there, Cold Supply. I see others are also in the business.

[Peter J.Heizmann]

22 hours ago, rocketraider said:

😳

Same here, Glenn.  I had a wagon back in the day.  Wasn’t aware that Mr. Flyer made radios or was it Mr. Radio made Flyers?  Confusing…