Kelvinator
Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEL : Kelvinator
Kelvinator was founded in 1914, in Detroit; in 1926 it acquired Leonard, which had been founded in 1881. In 1928, George W. Mason assummed control of Kelvinator; under his leadership the company lowered its costs while increasing market share through 1936.
On January 4 1937, the company merged with Nash Motors to form Nash-Kelvinator Corporation as part of a deal that placed Mason at the helm of the combined company. In 1952 it acquired the Altorfer Bros. Company, which made home laundry equipment.
Nash-Kelvinator became a division of American Motors Corporation when Nash merged with Hudson in 1954. Kelvinator introduced the first model frost-free side-by-side refrigerator in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, Kelvinator refrigerators introduced "picture frame" doors on some models allowing owners to decorate their appliance to match décor of their kitchens.
The Kelvinator brand is mainly sold in Australia and is largely unknown in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Acquired from AMC by White Consolidated Industries in 1968, Kelvinator joined a company that had acquired the rights to Frigidaire (formerly owned by General Motors), Gibson, Tappan and White-Westinghouse product lines. In the early 1990s, the name of the Dublin, Ohio based holding company changed to Frigidaire Company. In 1994, Frigidaire Corporation was acquired by Sweden's Electrolux.
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