Page 48 - Discover WINTER 2022

Charlie's Chatter CONTINUED

the average family. The first electric became popular, all my friends would
refrigerator for use in the home was tell me very excitedly about all the
not invented until 1913, and it was a things that their phones could do. They

commercial failure, although it did would carry on incessantly about games
introduce the ice cube tray, which and calculators and so on.
became popular with the public. In
I would say, “Does it ring when
1918, William C. Durant founded a
someone is calling me? Does it allow me
company called “Frigidaire”, and in
to call other people?” That’s all I wanted
1927 GE introduced the first widely
my phone to do.
sold refrigerator, which is easily

identified by the large compressor that So when my wife wanted a new
sat on top of it. fridge, I was curious as to the proper
function of the old one. I checked.
Still, only the wealthy could afford
Nope, it still kept the food cold.
them, so science marched on. Even such
notables as Albert Einstein worked “But it’s OLD,” she complained. Ah.
on design improvements. Finally, in
So with much fanfare and ado,
the 1930s, the discovery of Freon led
we ordered the “Fridigaire”. It was
to a great production of more modern
scheduled to arrive on a Thursday…
refrigerators, although the average
then a Sunday… and then on a Friday,
American home did not have one until
when it actually arrived.
after World War II.
The old one was a “side by side”,
While my grandfather called it an
which was introduced after many years
“icebox”, he did eventually acquire a
of “freezer on the top” units. This was
refrigerator, which he would sometimes
supposed to be a convenience, since it
refer to as the “Frigidaire”, regardless
allowed for more freezer space, albeit at
of the brand name. It was kind of like
the expense of non-freezer space, and
“Kleenex” or “Coke” as a household
it provided for improvements such as
name for a generic product.
water and ice dispensing. As an added
So we started browsing online, and feature, now many items of substantial

eventually she selected a “Frigidaire” width would not fit in either space. We
for our kitchen. It was an ACTUAL adjusted.
“Frigidaire” product. I didn’t think much
Now with tremendous excitement,
of it, until she pointed out all of the
she began showing me features. She
features, which to me seemed incidental.
pointed out that on the new one, the
I’m kind of old school, in that I like freezer is now on the very bottom of
things to be simple. When cell phones the fridge.

46 Discover Smith Mountain Lake WINTER 2021