The Refrigerator

Before refrigerators were produced, people were forced to cool their food with ice, snow,

or nearby rivers and springs. Most people also had to can, salt, and pickle their food to preserve

their meals. During these times, inventors were working towards the creation of the refrigerator.

In 1758, Benjamin Franklin experimented with the effects of evaporation on temperature. With

the help from chemist John Hadley, both men were able to find a way to drop thermometers

temperature below freezing. Franklin and Hadley’s work was soon picked up by the American

inventor, Oliver Evans. Using principles drew up by Franklin; Evans drew the design for a

refrigerator in 1805. Jacob Perkins modified Evan’s design and built the first practical

refrigerating machine in 1834. Soon after, John Gorrie used Evan’s design to build a refrigerator

to make ice to cool the air for his yellow fever patients in 1844. Over 30 years later German

engineer Carl Von Linde discovered the process of liquefying gas which is part of basic

refrigeration technology. From the 1800s until the 1920s, refrigerators used toxic gases as

refrigerants. With research developed, corporations discovered a less dangerous refrigerant

called Freon. Freon soon became the standard for almost all home kitchens.

Carl Von Linde was born in 1842 and was the son of a Lutheran minister. He studied

science and engineering at the Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, Switzerland. His research led to the

development of the first compressed-ammonia refrigerator. In 1917, Linde formed the Union

Carbide and Carbon Corporation.

On January 1, 1913, the first electric refrigerator in the United States was invented by

Fred W. Wolf. The refrigerator was an air-cooled refrigeration unit mounted on top of an ice box

and was called the Domelre. Exactly two years after the Domelre was created, the first self-

container refrigerator was built by the Guardian