4.02-4: Kelvinator 1945 Condensing Unit

HHCC Accession No. 2003.043	HHCC Classification Code: 4.02-4

Description:

Like Item #042, this series refrigeration machines, designed for the new generation of chlorinated hydrocarbon refrigerants, was developed by Kelvinator in the post WWII years, for small and medium sized commercial refrigeration applications. The Kelvinator SB medium speed, precision made, high efficiency, open system compressor would become a standard of engineering quality for the times . The machine, like #042, would in retrospect, be seen as part of the Kelvinator of Canada legacy of its mature corporate years in Canada, Kelvinator circa 1945.

Group:

4.02 Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Condensing Units - Commercial

Make:

Kelvinator

Manufacturer:

Kelvinator of Canada

Model:

Part No. 708907

Serial No.:

H3203

Size:

19x 18x 12’h

Weight:

125 lbs

Circa:

1945

Rating:

Exhibit, education, and research quality demonstrating the best of Canadian refrigeration design and development, associated with the immediate post WWII years in Canada, as the industry responded to a then rapidly developing market for larger commercial, refrigeration applications, including walk-in refrigerated rooms and refrigerated food store fixtures.

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Provenance:

From York County (York Region) Ontario, once a rich agricultural hinterlands, attracting early settlement in the last years of the 18th century. Located on the north slopes of the Oak Ridges Moraine, within 20 miles of Toronto, the County would also attract early ex-urban development, to be come a wealthy market place for the emerging household and consumer technologies of the early and mid 20th century.

This artifact was discovered in the 1950’s in the used stock of T. H. Oliver, Refrigeration and Electric Sales and Service, Aurora, Ontario, an early worker in the field of agricultural, industrial and consumer technology.

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Socio-cultural Significance:

As the industry responded to a then rapidly developing market for larger commercial, refrigeration applications, including walk-in refrigerated rooms and refrigerated food store fixtures, so too would the food culture of the Country quickly begin to change, with new expectations of the range and quality of perishable foods, often accompanied with new, novel taste sensations, to be found at the local grocer, confectionery and butcher shop.