5.01-3: Kelvinator (?) 1926 Compressor

Description:

An early, crude compressor, possibly part of the earliest commercial production by Kelvinator marketed in Canada. Like the Frigo-Matic [see #087 and 088] it marks the earliest, embryonic years of the Canadian refrigeration industry. It too would be tentatively accepted into Canadian households in the mid 1920’s with much trepidation and often discomfort. It brought new noises, foreign to home life and often the odour of sulphur dioxide throughout the household, as well as frequent visits from the refrigeration serviceman, 1926

Group:

5.01 Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Compressors - Household

Make:

Possibly Kelvinator of Canada, reminiscent of their Model J production in the latter part of the 1920’s

Manufacturer:

See above

Model:

Body casting markings: G; D-2181; 5335

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Size:

14x8x16’h

Weight:

35 lbs.

Circa:

1926

Rating:

Exhibit, education, and research quality, illustrating the crude beginnings of the Canadian refrigeration industry, as well as the design concepts and construction of refrigeration compressors, destined to change the way Canadians would live out their lives.

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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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Donor:

G. Leslie Oliver, The T. H. Oliver HVACR Collection

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Bibliographic References:

Composite Kelvinator Manual, T. H. Oliver Collection

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Related Reports: