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

Alfred Mellowes
Born
Alfred Wytheman Mellowes

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

Career

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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.

References

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