General Electric Marches On - ca. 1941
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- Опубликовано: 19 фев 2013
- GE marches on with the new refrigerator line. A training film for GE salesmen focusing on the newest line of General Electric refrigerators. W.M. Zimmerman introduces each model and lists the features of each, then gives hints to dealers as to how to sell model upgrades.
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Back in the day, products were made to last!! Real quality.
I own a 1949 GE refrigerator that still works beautifully. It gets ice cold and it’s extremely quiet. I just painted it and it even looks new! I think it will run to be over 100 yrs old. It’s already 0ver 71 years old! They don’t make it like they used to.
Wow!
Probably uses sulphur dioxide as a refrigerant. Will cause acid rain if it's released when scrapped.
@@haweater1555 Please no acid rain, oh no...
That’s amazing. Nothing is made to last anymore. It’s all barely functional even when new.
@@jackrussel9573 Compared to new models an electricity pig.
Love this look back when we actually made our products here in the U.S. Many older family worked in G.E. plants. Sad when they eventually shuttered around the 70's and 80's. Now completely gone. R.I.P., General Electric Appliance Division (sold to Chinese company, Haier).
Back in the day, GE was really the appliance king.
Actually GE is very much alive. Much like Solyndra it is government subsidized.
@@mikezylstra7514 The company exists, the Appliance division does not. Reread my comment.
@@emilletich 1 out of 5 or 6 appliances (on this side of the Pacific Ocean) are GE. Get on line and shop around. You'll see. Maybe Haier makes them - who knows. But the GE logo is still on those appliances.
@@mikezylstra7514 They're Haier made, and not as abundant as GE was.
I have a 1939 model, similar but if only it had the butter conditioner. Still runs like new to this day.
Josh Bommer think I have the 1939 to, bought from a lady for 75$ I can’t find pictures of it anywhere
I had a client who had a GE (?) fridge that was made in the late 60s. It still well even with a cooling unit that was replaced in the late 80s. The (new) modern fridge broke down within 5 years of purchase.
Rodney Lowe the 1939 model might be better, but it uses toxic cooling elements , that can leak easily, whereas fridges today are safe to own.
@@lumemaa7 toxic cooling elements that can leak easily???? It has been in use since 1939....quite possibly without ever leaking. As far as refrigerants go, yes there were several in use that were mildly toxic or irritating but by late 1930s R-12 was the predominant refrigerant utilized in household hermetic units.
Please elaborate.
I'm a refrigeration tech, and would like to hear more on this.
@@JohnSmith-mw2hh The gas refrigerator I remember from my parent's first house used ammonia, and I assume that the gas refrigerators you can buy today also do. I don't know if freon is totally banned in this country, but in some EU countries, they are using flammable gas as the replacement. Not the greatest thing to have in have in the house.
When we closed out Dad’s shop after he died I ripped the door off of the International Harvester fridge’s butter conditioner door. That fridge was the one they must’ve bought in the 50s & in in 2017 was still running!
We have a '44 GE in the garage. Works fine all summer for drinks and such in the yard. Solid product.
Are you sure of the production year? GE wasn't building refrigerators in 1944 for standard customer/residential use. Or any other use at the time. They were busy with government war contracts, building war materiel, like tanks, guns, ammo, and so forth.
@@sharid76 The only date I have is on the thermostat which is clearly marked 'December 1944', but what you pointed out makes sense. The compressor, condenser, thermo, and fan are mounted on top of the unit. The whole top lifts right off(no screws) with two people. I guess to swap the cooling unit to get the thing back in service quickly. Somebody once told me it's commercial. It has no legs, it just sits on a pallet. My G'Parents had it forever in their garage before I got it. Hope the description helps. Thanx and stay safe.
@@scratchdog2216 I bet it is older.. I am certain it is a GE "monitor top" and they continued to replace the top unit for years ( they were made early to mid 1930's )..
No need to buy a whole gallon of milk when it's delivered to your door! I remember the milkman coming to our house in the seventies. The milk went into a metal square container so if we weren't home, it wouldn't go bad.
Where I live in Maryland we can still have our milk delivered to us by South Mountain creamery there chocolate milk is the best and we too have a metal box if were not home.😊
Yep, I remember that too. The metal box was insulated and inside was a form to place your order.
Likewise, when my mother and my new stepfather had a house built for us, (and coming members of the end of the "Baby Boom" of the early 60's) they decided for whatever reason to locate it out in the boonies on the edge of an area which was former farm country, and didn't have close access to ANY stores, gas stations (which still had yet to sell anything except gasoline and other petroleum products), and we still only had one car which my stepfather had to take to work 5 days per week. Other than try to "guesstimate" the weekly milk, egg and butter requirements, there was still the Milkman who delivered twice a week! We also had the silver insulated box on the front porch in which was placed the items on our order, and they were retrieved when our parents got up to eat their breakfast, well before I was needed to be up for my own, which started in first grade in 1963.
The milk would freeze in the winter if you didn't pick it up on time.
I can remember my Dad milking our cow twice a day
I have a 1935 GE I found in a barn that was tore down, it still works beautifully. Today GE is struggling to stay in business. They could turn things around in a heartbeat if they started making quality again. who wouldn't be interested in a product that would last at least 20 years? by the way if you measure amp draw ( amount of electric used) these antiques are not far off from modern appliances. The new ones are better insulated.
The problem is the chemicals that they used are no longer available to be used. They're efficient but pretty toxic and dangerous if it leaks out.
And the locking door closure became illegal in 1958 so that magnetic doors had to be used. One thing that stands out for me on these is the amount of space taken up by the much larger cooling mechanism than today. It isn't that different in overall design from about a decade earlier but with storage where the bare legs used to show. Sales people at stores like Sears used to work on commission and really knew their stock, as this man did. It is a great technique to unch the customer into paying more for the next fridge on up the line. Why, you will need this when you hold dinner parties for your boss on your way up the ladder of success! And think how your growing family will drink all that milk each week. You can't afford NOT to make payments on this all during WWII and well beyond. This is just the thing to haul with you to your shared, cramped apartment many miles from where you will work in the defense plant while dear hubby is overseas.
Actually, there were a lot of European countries that got over the Great Depression before the US did and had disposable income sooner, but of course this was to encourage the sales staff to get out there and siphon off some of that new US money. My guess is it wasn't as easy as this indicates, with people who finally had their hands on some cash, many of whom weren't keen to part with it, and who can blame them? I would want to build up savings after that, too, more concerned with avoiding future disaster than with living with the kitchen beautiful. Nothing says fun in an economic downturn like making payments on things you can no longer afford.
I’d love to see a photo!! I have one I’m restoring and a second that I just had to transport 600 miles. They are both beauties.
Steve Plata I would, I love vintage!!!
Who wouldn't be interested in appliances that last 20 years? The companies that make them. It's called planned obsolescence, and it makes sure that even though every year, "new" people begin establishing new households of their own, they will still have return customers in under 10 years for replacement models. Replacements for those that have stopped functioning and are more expensive to repair than to replace, and/or such wonderful brand new features have been devised since they bought their last one that they simply can't live without. Especially today, with the culture of demanding and acquiring the "latest, greatest, newest, best-est" models available every 15 minutes, there's no point in investing in corporate infrastructure to produce appliances built like tanks and that will last for 20 years, because most of them will be replaced by their owners in under 8-10, whether they are still working or not.
Even these models being shown and described are light years ahead of the original old 30's "monitor top" style, in every way. Not just in appearance, but size, features, and functions. There's just no comparison! Look at these "roomy" freezer compartments! Look at all that ice it can make? Frozen food isn't a big consideration yet, because even though Clarence Birdseye has already invented the whole industry, it's just not big enough yet, as many grocers don't yet have the space for the large commercial freezers it would take to sell what little they are making - yet. Most customers are looking for fresh, or their own home canned food items to feed their families, or canned from the store, if they must! So large freezer compartments simply aren't needed.
The biggest use for the freezer at that point is to create all the brand new frozen dessert products they can get recipe pamphlets for from the refrigerator manufacturer, or even the ingredient makers themselves. Fancy frozen desserts were creating their own market, since the whole concept is so incredibly new. People with new office jobs, especially where they might find themselves in a position to entertain the Boss in their own homes, put the "little woman" on the spot to create something new and different to serve for dinner and/or dessert, and the new refrigerator with its dessert trays in the freezer became a popular answer. Even ice cream became the primary ingredient rather than just the dessert itself, especially in the newly popular "Baked Alaska" dessert. Having come out of the high class restaurant kitchens, and filtered down into the high class home kitchen, when the mistress of the house demanded it for her own table at dessert, it then found its way out in the talents of the cooks of those homes, and became a well-known "fancy" dessert. For anyone with a freezer large enough to hold a small container of ice cream, purchased from the local ice cream parlor or soda fountain, which began selling it in bulk, could easily duplicate. Leftovers were generally not an issue with such a dessert, but any very small portion remaining could easily be accommodated. And that's just one example!
And, in 1940, the "military industrial complex" was actually being born, along with a peacetime draft, which turned out to be encouraging enlistment in all the services, because if you got "caught in the draft," you automatically went into the Army, so if you had desires and designs on any of the other services, such as the Navy, the Marines or the Coast Guard, you better get to them before the Army got to you! The Air Force was still part of the Army, and would be until 1947, so if you wanted to fly, or have any other interactions with airplanes, the Army was still where you wanted to start.
All THIS meant that a young man's income could be seriously curtailed by being on Uncle Sam's payroll IF he already had a good defense job, or it could conceivably go up in terms of family support, once the Family Allotment program kicked in, if he didn't. It just depended on what level he was at when the Draft Board came knocking on his door. Having a good income from a defense factory job could mean a good nest egg being laid while he could keep it. After struggling through almost 10 years of up to 25% unemployment, closed banks, the Dust Bowl ruining thousands of farms, etc., catching up with their lives was #1 on their own private "Hit Parade," which meant getting prior obligations cleared and getting ahead a little bit. Having had such a difficult time in the past with hanging on to any money at all made most of them "proper leary" of turning much of it loose at any given time. Even with "time payments" or "easy monthly payments," they pretty much already knew how dangerous that could really be. Priorities of life may or may not have included replacing old, worn out, too-small appliances, or it might have meant acquisition of their first ones! The old ice box still existed in many homes, and many others, especially in the still very poor South, didn't even have that.
The salesmen that this man is training in this film, are going to have quite a time for a while, in most cases, getting past the 10 years of ingrained sales resistance in the majority of the population. Unfortunately, nobody had any idea that by the beginning of 1942, less than 2 years away, appliances of any and every kind were going to be completely impossible to come by! Making this close to their last opportunity to drop the resistance, and get one NOW! It would be 4 more years after that before they would be able to say "Yes, I'll take it!"
A "butter conditioner" sounds like a good idea for today's fridges, too.
I want one
I helped an elderly neighbor move and she said I could keep the refrigerator, it’s the 7 gallon version that’s shown here, I plugged it in, it was ice cold in 20 minutes, super quiet. Missing 2 drawers sadly.
I’m absolutely amazed at how many features it has, we have devolved today with our yawn worthy refrigerators for the basic customer.
Ha!ha! Yes appliances are $700 and more to start.old RVs have fridge like these!
I want one but I'm afraid of the Hydro bill! How is it?
@@nannabou9437 about the same as many modern fridges
Omg these features are genius-seriously
There was a GE plant in Murfreesboro, TN that closed in 2006. The plant building was heavy damaged in an F5 tornado in 2009. Now the site belongs to Stones River National Battlefield trust. Murfreesboro was the site of a major battle in 1862/63. A greenspace after a 50+ year industrial complex.
My grandmother still called it icebox!
Beautifully made, I love ❤️ vintage!!!
Very fascinating and informative. Not only did having a G.E. refrigerator/freezer the thing to have, but in my childhood, I found it 'thrilling' to look at the G.E. logo and get scared of it!
I'm not afraid of no logo anymore.🌚📺
Made to last for generations as were all durable goods in those days unlike todays cheap trash, grandmas 50 year old GE steam iron still looks and works like brand new.
Thank you for sharing these wonderful classic films
I am greatly pleased by the fact that this digitization shows the full frame from the film.
I like how the drawers at the bottom could be side-by-side, or vertical. I remember refrigerators having the small plain freezer like that in the upper right corner. If anyone was thinking they wanted a new refrigerator in 1941, they'd better have bought one because once World War II started for the US in Dec. 1941, there wouldn't be any new appliances for sale for years, till 1945. And even after factories started making them again, they were still hard to get for at least a year or so, and much more expensive.
I wonder if most of these sales people were drafted. They certainly wouldn't all be needed to sell goods to the govt.
@@653j521 As long as they were medically qualified, as in 1-A instead of 4-F, I'm sure they were. Or, they may have enlisted in one of the other services if that's where their interest was - the Navy, Coast Guard or the Marines. Because if you got "caught in the draft," it was the Army for you!
The one thing that many people don't realize, is because of the poverty of the Great Depression, and the long term malnutrition that was inflicted on so many young draftees when they were children, most spending their most important growing years in the 10 years just prior to 1940, they did not pass the physical exams. So many were affected by stunted growth, vision disturbances such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, "lazy eye" or strabismus, and malnutrition driven diseases such as rickets; untreated infections because of no effective antibiotics, or any medical care at all, there were more cases of things like heart murmurs, which would immediately disqualify a young man who had been affected with a strep infection, or Scarlett Fever, or even measles as a child, and suffered long term damage because of it. A fairly high percentage of draftees, and voluntary enlistees, were rejected for medical causes, and even psychological damage from losing parents at a young age due to untreatable meducal conditions, mothers who died in childbirth, and being raised by relatives who didn't really want that responsibility, or placed in overcrowded orphanages. There's a lot that went on that we never hear about because it didn't involve selfless heroism on the battlefield, or in the skies over enemy territory.
I wonder if any supermarkets didn't have refrigerators back then, for that reason.
@@Melissa0774 There were virtually no "supermarkets" in 1941, of the size we have today. And many neighborhood markets didn't sell food that was frozen or even refrigerated. By far they mostly sold canned goods, or fruits or vegetables that weren't cooled.
@hebneh good points to think about
MAke an appliance that lasts for decades and your company will do better. Even if it works but is old, consumers will keep buying because Americans always want what is new, except for me I keep things until it goes.
Buy a Miele refrigerator then
Great features on this fridge.
The thriftometer is just a fancy word for a thermometer. My 1948 G.E. Has one . Also a butter conditioner. And the drawers. I didn’t know that they could be stacked. I’ve never heard of that air filter before though. Super quality. Definitely built to last. The USA definitely made the most beautiful and highest quality in the world !!!
He was pronuncing something like a triptometer...
The butter conditioner has an electric plug?
wow i want one of those butter conditioners!
In Australia in the 70s and 80s they were an option and fabulous for our climate. Sadly not an option anymore. I have no idea why?
@@frisky9 because it worked and it worked very well. They now make things so that you have to replace periodically that way they make more money. 💰
@@billgreen1861 Exactly.We have a '40ies model too and it still runs very well.I like the butter compartment since I don't like margarine.Nowadays everyone else I know is using margarine.Maybe that's why they don't make them with butter keepers anymore ?
Anyway,if one buys for instance a new Frigidaire today in Australia today it's actually an Elecrolux and produced in Thailand,and a GE is actually a Haier made in China.And all junk.
@@feikotemme8736 yes, and those two brand name (among others) are being made to last from three to five years, before having to repair or worse yet replace at almost double the original price. My washing machine built in 1964 works like new and the Fridge same year like new. So go figure why people keep going for the latest appliances.
Try and find features like this on modern refrigerators! I've never seen a butter conditioner or an air filter or a... thriftometer? what? I want one! My grandfather used to work at the Schenectady GE plant.
and it's made in China... no thanks!
LG not made in China....mine was made in Korea n wasnt worth a 💩. Couldn't made ice all th time i had it. Wont buy another
Mine has those things and made in America.
Jeff Webb Sub zero are also the price of a new small car.
@Mark Miller It has a butter conditioner?
Funny how if they were to present today's fridge like this, they would either be launched into bigger business or right out of business. Such conveniences then and now.
Make fun of how they showed this but look at what we have for hours and hours now on TV. Infomercials.
This was a presentation for the salesmen.
better looking and better built than today's offerings.
That's for sure. Most new appliances are junk.
Refrigerators were really modernizing quickly from late ' 30s into early '40s
Gone were the " icebox" days where you stored a block of ice to keep it cool and used an ice pick
It took halfway into the 50's for them to come up with a separate freezer compartment. They were huge compared to what these old things had.
I want the butter conditioner!
I'm watching this in 2021 almost 2022.....what ever happened to the butter conditioner? That would be awesome!
Refrigerator they're showing it has been made all the way through the forties my father had a 1948 model just like that it ran all the way 2006 thermostat went bad can't get part for it no more
Do you still have it? It might be able to be repaired.
A "universal fit" t'stat should be available for that box. Check with a refrigeration supply house, or appliance parts store and give them the numbers off the old thermostat. I've sold many in the past..
better than today’s junk
When USA worked
When the USA reeled from the Great Depression to WWII. NOT the good old days.
K Kr kept people working either way
ok boomer
@@653j521 I assume the economy was doing better in the second half of the 1930's, the depression started in 1929. But let's remain fair, such expensive fridges only were available to the higher middle class and up. (In Europe, even in the 1950's, only 25 to 30 % of the housejholds had a refrigerator. Before WW 2, that was probably not more than 10 %.
We have the Royal model. I wish I could find instructions for removing the door-- we need to do so to get it through a 24" doorway. It was so interesting to watch this 'movie'. Ours does work, but it no longer cools very efficiently and will not freeze or keep ice. It sat in an old farm house over 20 years without being turned on-- probably did not do it any favors. It's still great for storing drinks and some food items.
I believe that my parents had one of these! It was destroyed in a fire. You could hardly hear it run. They bought it used! Fire happened in 2007!
Those compressors were well built, and the sealed systems engineered right. Most fridge manufacturers in the 30s, 40s, and 50s tried to make a whisper quiet, easy running compressor for their boxes.
Not like today's cheap undersized compressors....They try to push them to the limits of operation which shortens life.
I want the glass water bottle. Thank you Timmy!
Does anyone else recall Jubilee Appliance Polish? Came in a glass bottle, milky white liquid. Smelled strange.
You'd apply it to the fridge, let it dry, then buff it out, leaving the fridge looking a little bit shinier.
That and Aero Floor Wax --- Metal bottle with a metal cap. It sort of helped old linoleum tiles look a bit less dull and drab.
There are certainly things I miss from growing up in the 60's, but not the kitchens!
I remember that "Jubilee" was "anti-bacterial"… A selling feature..
I want that butter thing and a non plastic fridge where the drawers crack and the gaskets are loose at only 4 years old.
I can't believe it had that big drawer on the bottom that looks just like a bottom freezer, but it's actually not one. I wonder if they wanted to make that a freezer, but just weren't able to, or if they just didn't see the need to have a big freezer because there weren't a ton of frozen foods back then, like there are today. Didn't they ever think there'd be other things besides Bird's Eye veggies?
@Straight Razor Daddy Some people really love the aesthetic of these old appliances. I wonder if any those vintage kitchen nuts ever got one of these fridges and converted the bottom drawer to a freezer.
It would be great if today's fridges lasted as long as this old ones
on the plus side, today's fridges don't cost three months wages though.
Timmy kind of grows on you after awhile....
When you compare this to the films made to inform/motivate the salesmen in the 1930s, there's a huge difference. (WWII about to involve America in a big way when this was put out.) This has a totally "male" tone. College football music in the background. Bomber names for the refrigerators -- like "JB-6." Male "demo models" doing the Vanna White stuff. and a male with a "sports announcer" voice narrating. The 30's ads featured very petite "housewife" actresses showing their "hubbies" all the features of the appliances they'd been given for birthday presents. (Oh boy.) They wore cute little "frocks" and high heels to do all their chores. Interesting to study what sells in different eras.
But then came Pearl Harbor in the same year, and I assume all of GE's production capacity was reorganized for the war effort.... At least, that's what happened with the Easy plant, which produced washing machines. I'm not sure all customers or GE salesmen were able to remain concentrated until WMZ came to his bottom to top résumé. But it certainly is of great interest for museums and collectors ! Thanks for the upload... (I wonder what became of WHZ, did he went straight to GE's top echelon, didn't he survive the war.... ?)
Wow. Just discovered this film. We have the LB6 model in our garage for gatorade, bottled water and soda. It's been in my wifes family since new. Now I know for certain that it is missing a shelf and the glass tray below the evaporator. Also the trim cap on the thermostat knob. Does anyone know what the glass tray is called below the evaporator? Would love to find one.
We have a B 7 - C model and ours is missing too.It's called a drip tray.Most of the refrigerators from that particular era had them,and they were mostly made of glass.And therefore mostly missing,too.We replaced it by a plastic tray but an aquaintance of mine replaced his one with a Pyrex/Corningware glass oven tray.Original items are hard to find.Maybe on Ebay or Etsy.And costly,most likely.Succes and stay safe mate,cheers
wish they made them that good now. A old woman in south carolina had one with this round device on top of it she just stores stuff in it but has several other types that still work. Now all they want is your money not to do the qualtity with a name you can trust to be dependable and last forever or just about
Just restoed my 1940 Christmas fridge GE same exact grill love it. SO2 for lyfe 😂
That butter warmer truly irritates me. Out of all the “updates” our modern fridges have. That! Is one that needs to make a comeback.
Fascinating..
Timmy rocks!
For real, more room for ice cubes in that little freezer than the food. That’s why people back there were so thin!! Lol
What is the type number of the refrigerator at 8:28?
My mother swore by GE appliances. Thats all she would buy.
I think I will shop around some more.
Back when there was competition. Now a days the fridge you pick over another is more then likely made by the same company.
have seen this in CNN 10 yesterday.
Thanks GE- very fine products, made in America, and by women American scientists, too. Julie Ann Racino, ASPA, 2018 Now, global, and diversity and inclusion in the workforces.
What was the “thriftometer”?
why don't they make things like this anymore
Jeff Webb hardly superior, built to a cost and mass production suffering quality.
Mathew Betts They do make things like this. But many people aren't prepared to pay the price. Miele and gaggenau make exceptional quality appliances, but at a premium. If you want a robust and infinitely repairable refrigerator commercial models are best- but they have few features, rarely have lighting, are louder and consume considerably more energy. However the compressors are always fully accessible in spacious compartments and can be replaced with any other compressor by a catering refrigeration engineer.
Companies don't want to make a product 'too good' anymore. Those days are gone...😢😢 most old appliances were over-engineered. Not good for the economy when something lasts too long. 🤑🤑🤑
Ive never wanted a fridge so badly 😂
This is the way the news should be spoken 1941 Nice. Today 2022 nice?
Does GE still make movies like this . If not they should . 1 minute commercials won’t cut it in the future lol
The thriftometer .?
The only thing they didn't think of was to put shelving on the inside of the door!
Guess frozen products weren’t popular back in the 40s
There weren't many available. Frozen vegetables and ice cream mainly.
They were not around that much. Many people still shopped in neighborhood grocers that were small, and not so much self-serve yet, and didn't have room for the commercial size freezers it would take to store the frozen foods then available.
Most people were interested in fresh foods in season when they were cheaper, and home canned foods from seasonal foods they could buy locally or grow themselves. Ice cream came in very small containers, like the quart size white Chinese food takeout boxes, and were hand packed in those containers by the local ice cream parlor, drug store or soda fountain mostly to order. They were generally bought for special occassions, like birthdays, and didn't last very long, so didn't require storage for long.
Frozen vegetables were available, but not popular because people didn't have freezers large enough to store them.
People invested in deep freezers back then.
Righto, all. Mass frozen foods were still a few years away. Home freezers were mainly for meats from large cuts from butcher shop. Remember lucy show when she put meat in the furnace?
The freezers were most popular in rural areas with hunters and fishermen.
I remember up to the 1980s when the word deluxe was used to describe products. It's a very dated adjective now.
Say, that sure is swell!
Golly, i just have to have one of those marvelous new iceboxes 😏
@@JohnSmith-mw2hh That would be swell! Grandma won't have to store her food outside under ground near the outhouse anymore.
@@AutomatikSystematik 🚽😂
ماركة روعه من زمان
sad, they are still made here but use foriegn parts.... during this last year, 2020, no one could even get a new unit, or freezers, because of a supply chain breakdown..... did we have this issue in 1941????
👍
Rushing toward your door 😂 😂 @:00:50
Those refrigerator seem better than the ones they've got today and those things kept running for 80 years! When we brought a house up North in the woods in Wisconsin it came was an old old refrigerator like that in the basement...... I took off the door to the freezer and put it all the way on cold it turned the whole darn thing into a vertical freezer! The appliances they've been selling for the last however many generations are all complete garbage.
@Straight Razor Daddy Pickerel Lake
Where are the magnets?
Days of the death doors Could not be opened from the inside
Real Captain, Hail GE. BAK
Hail Cecero Illinois. BAK
Down with poverty up with honest work. I hear you? BAK
No shelves in the door yet.
Sounds like the guy who did the voiceover in "Citizen Kane" XANADU...XANADU...XANADU!!!!
Magnetic door not yet at this time in history.
10 star fridge, these days we only get 5 star things. 🤨
This is freaking me the fuck out!
Good lord..the trains back then were amazing but the pollution billowing out of them was unbelievable!
I am obviously poor because I don't have a thriftometer.
I could never afford such a fancy frig.
Steve - do you have any data that backs up your assertion that GE is on the ropes because of poor quality home appliances? Do you know what percent of GE’s total revenue and profits are contributed by home appliances? Do you have any data on how long modern GE refrigerators last vs. the 1941 models? Basically you’re simply saying, “They don’t make ‘em like they used to” - a sentimental argument only. I’ll take a modern refrigerator any time. Greater capacity, less electricity use, refrigerant that doesn’t harm the atmosphere, and no defrosting required. Quieter too.
emmgeevideo forget about the Freon.... the newer ones are just insulated better... the amp draw is about the same
Basically, they don't make 'em like they used to. Back in the day, most appliances were the first of their kind. Prior to electricity, there was little choice other than an icebox and the Iceman if you were lucky. Most families stayed in one place whereas today, it is not unusual for a family to move numerous times. Rarely today do you see folks taking their big appliances with them, they buy new. Consequently quality and long life are not major considerations for most appliances.
@@Underledge-- Back in the early teens and 1920's, there used to be a somewhat popular feature included in new houses of the day, called a "cooler." It bore absolutely no resemblance to that metal or plastic box with a handle, and a separate lid on top, that we have been using to carry or store cold food, soft drinks, beer, fresh caught fish, etc., on ice in order to keep those items cold and/or fresh since the thirties.
No, what I'm referring to was just a long, narrow cabinet, located at the end of a run of what few built-in cabinets were considered necessary and desirable in new kitchens of the day. It was also usually located against an outside kitchen wall, or less often, against an inside partition wall, or in a corner not on an outside wall. It had an opening covered with a heavy, fine spaced screen wire panel to allow cool air in from outside, but keep out the creepie-crawlies, vermin, rodents and anything else that might attempt to use it to access the contents of the cabinet or even the inside of your home, on the vertical side at the bottom, just above the foundation, or on the actual bottom, in the case of installation against an inside corner or wall, allowing airflow from under the house.
It was apparently some kind of poor substitute for a refrigerator, because while refrigerators were certainly available then, they were MUCH more expensive in terms of percentage of income than they became later. They were widely advertised, but not widely affordable.
Now, the very little bit of information that I have been able to track down about the aforementioned "cooler" is primarily anecdotal, but it's probably as accurate as anything coming from those times. I also have examples (links below) of the coolers and their placement, but nothing showing the actual inside. Perishable foods that were stored there of course perished in short order, and non-perishables survived there just about as well as anything else like them would in any other location. You certainly would not expect your milk or coffee cream to last longer than a few hours in this "closet" for foods, but the butter may keep a day or two before going rancid. It would certainly be about as "conditioned" as any other butter in a refrigerated butter conditioner - soft enough for spreading without ripping big holes in it! But that was only being warmed up by the ambient temperature, not anything done purposefully.
I guess it served about as useful a function as any other cabinet shelf in the kitchen, but I can't really find any special advantage for it. I can't imagine how much frigid air it would let in the house in the wintertime (!), but the only places I've seen them added were in true California Bungalow kit house plans - which I can show you here -
archive.org/details/PacificReadyCutHomesIncPacificsbookofhomesvol250001/page/n153
-- once there, scroll back over/up and look at pages 146 & 147 to see them closer, but none show the inside! Also, home plans show them in place, for example --
archive.org/details/PacificReadyCutHomesIncPacificsbookofhomesvol250001/page/n54 --
and, my favorite of all of their plans shown, here --
archive.org/details/PacificReadyCutHomesIncPacificsbookofhomesvol250001/page/n55
Since they were built primarily in the southern and coastal portions of the State, and the warm southwest, this made winter weather primarily a matter of speculation and conversation, rather than any practical reality. I never could figure out what practical advantage they could possibly have over an icebox, which were certainly also available at the time?
The only other place I've ever seen anything like it is in the pre-refrigeration days of homes in England, under another name. But, they were MUCH slower in general in getting safe, efficient electrical service in their homes, as well as refrigeration. AND even then, the units were, and many still are, much smaller than our head-high fridges, theirs being only counter height. AND freezers in English homes were still completely unknown as late as several years after WWII.
@Straight Razor Daddy - Thanks very much for the detailed description of your "cooler" and its contemporary purpose. That certainly adds to my wealth of knowledge regarding their structure and purpose!
As for combining their use along with the use of a real "ice box," I have seen hundreds of vintage house plans which place a cooler in the kitchen, OR a marked space for various types of ice boxes, including the type which are placed up against an outside wall, or an inside pantry wall likewise, usually against an enclosed or screened porch, all of which had a small hinged door mating up to the icebox, allowing the ice man to replenish the ice supply through that door, instead of having access to the inside of the house at all. But, I haven't come across any that combined the two, anywhere.
The placement of the access door on a floor plan was primarily a suggestion, as the type of icebox access to the ice section could be anyone of three sections, either on the top, the upper back portion, or through a door on the front, like the access for adding or removing food through smaller front doors. If the door for ice was on the top, it's probable the ice could be accessed through a door in the house wall, depending on the skill of the carpenter in placing it. The best place would be to mate the door in the house wall with an icebox which had a matching door in the rear panel.
If it was in the side of the box, that might also work, depending on how it would require the box to be turned to match up to the access door in the house wall.
Disagree. Electricity consumption is higher in new boxes due to auto defrost. And the old units had slower, much quieter running compressors. It is pluses and minuses though.. The modern fridge is better insulated, and lighter weight.
This is so...."Ozzie and Harriet"
Who weren't on TV for another 15 years or so....
Back then, where things made TO LAST! I'm the owner of a Western-German 1956 Refrigerator made by ATE standing in my workshop. This will never replaced by this low-quality Crap you get today.
1941...soon they'd stop making fridges and start making ordinance.
Only thing frozen in the old days was ice and veggies..! Ppl made and ate their food fresh... better than crap frozen meals
And ice cream!
I bet these babies ate up electricity! No door storage? Where would all my condiments go? I hated wire racks. One accident and the whole refrigerator needed cleaning. These units took up a lot of real estate with very limited cooling/freezing space. However, they ran for decades. That being said, my in-laws have a Kenmore refrigerator from the 70's that is still running strong. My husband and I have one from the early 90's that still has an ice maker that is to die for.
Anymore complains? These babies are still working today, i bet.
@@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus
Nope. That's about it.
They only take much electricity to start the motor running.Other than that they in fact run more economical than recent models.Reason for that can be easily seen when comparing the actual room inside to the overall dimensions.It's all insulation.And the steel used is much thicker,combined with enamel on the inside instead of plastic.
Freezer freezes up in summer. Broke my nail pulling out the ice cube tray.
Steam engine train! What the heck!?
Of course! Diesels didn’t replace steam in many places until the 1950s or even 1960s.
Why can't nice ideam like this change.they have gotten worsted.as the decade hose buy.those refrigerators lasted longer than the ones done today
Shouty man 😄
World War II era.
Except for the all women rooms, GE could get quite a few points from women scientists today, and from the new women power groups, and a "at a boy" (i.e., girls to boys). Julie Ann Racino, ASPA, 2018
It's also women business owners who inherit the full companies or corporations. JAR2018
Julie Ann Racino uhhhh huhhhh
So sad tv's RCA GONE ,G.E. LIGHT BULBS DIESEL TRAINS WHETHER TRON HEAT PUMPS JET ENGINES ETC. GONE!
My Grandmother Hatfield worked at RCA in Indiana for her whole adult life until retirement.
Their model number numbers seem important to them but no one understands what they are talking about.
0:11: Da fuk??!!
6:09: 1941 Worst Actor of the Year
Worse comment ever.
The commentator sounds as though he only recently learned to read.