Alfred Mellowes

Last updated
Alfred Mellowes
Born
Alfred Wytheman Mellowes

(1879-04-07)April 7, 1879
DiedFebruary 1, 1960(1960-02-01) (aged 80)
Michigan, U.S.
Occupation Electrical engineer
SpouseLaura Feller McCoy

Alfred Wytheman Mellowes (1879-1960) was an electrical engineer who made the first self-contained electric refrigerator in 1915 in Fort Wayne.

Career

In 1916, he founded the Guardian Frigerator Company in partnership with J. W. Murray whose business would manufacture the "frigerators" in Detroit. [2] [3] The business was unsuccessful initially as the rate of production was low. [3] William C. Durant inspected the production line and advised Murray to buy out the business. [3] In 1918, Durant then bought the business from Murray and renamed the company Frigidaire. [2] [3] Durant then sold the business to his other company, General Motors, in 1919. [2] [3] The company was subsequently moved to Dayton, Ohio where Mellowes was born.

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References

  1. "Alfred W Mellowes". Ancestry.com . Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  2. 1 2 3 Sherri Liberman (2011), American Food by the Decades, ABC-CLIO, p. 32, ISBN   9780313376986
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Paul Arculus (2011), Durant's Right-Hand Man, Friesen Press, p. 199, ISBN   9781770677838