1927: The First Affordable Fridge Comes to Market
Nicknamed for a warship, GE’s ‘Monitor-Top’ made home refrigeration widely accessible
FIRST FRIDGE: GE’s Monitor Top was considered to be the first affordable refrigerator in the U.S.
In 1927, General Electric (GE) introduced an electric refrigerator that had the compressor mounted on the top. The American public soon dubbed it the ‘Monitor Top,’ due to its resemblance to the gun turret on the Civil War ironclad warship, the USS Monitor. According to the Albany Institute of History & Art, the refrigerator entered the market with a price tag of around $525, but within a few years, models were selling as low as $200, making GE’s Monitor Top refrigerators affordable for many Americans.
In addition to being affordable, the Albany Institute noted that the “Monitor Top’s hermetically sealed steel case, designed by GE’s chief engineer Christian Steenstrup, looked modern (even though it had legs that mimicked colonial period furniture) and appealed to consumers increasingly concerned with food safety and health. The compressor coils were completely covered, which prevented dust from collecting in hard-to-reach places, and the steel case could be easily scrubbed, both inside and out.”
According to the University of Chicago, it was the first refrigerator created by GE made entirely of steel, rather than wood. In addition to being the first self-contained unit covered inside and out with white porcelain, “its heavy door at the time revolutionized its sealant capabilities, keeping in its icy temperatures.”
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