First Fridge

Looking over some old Christmas photos from our home in Red Deer (when I was in elementary school),  I noticed a round object behind my aunt and uncle. Was that the top of our fridge in the kitchen?!

I remember we had a fridge with a round motor/compressor on top when we lived in Hay Lakes. In fact, I remember my excitement when my father first brought it home and assembled it! I think we called it an "ice box." It must have been electric, whereas the original "ice boxes" were literally well-insulated boxes (or cupboards) with a block of ice in them to keep food in the ice box cold.

Here's a picture of a 1920's fridge that I found online - exactly like the one I remember us having in the early 1950's!

It could well be the same model seen in the Christmas picture above.

I don't remember if our family ever had a literal ice box, but I do remember this electric one in Hay Lakes... 

I remember that it was made up of 2 parts: a metal box with a door - but no top. The second part - a metal lid with a round engine/compressor - sat on the top of the metal box. It had a smallish U-shaped compartment that was very cold. This U would cool the whole box. If we wanted to keep something very cold, we'd put it right in the U. This U was always covered in frost. So it had to be defrosted regularly.

Some time in those Red Deer years, we got our first deep freeze.

I find it interesting that our first fridge, in the early 1950's  was really a 30-year-old model. It must have been well made. Current fridges only last about 10 years.

I don't remember when we got rid of it or what our next fridge looked like! But I don't think we took this old fridge with us when we moved to Kelowna in 1958 - although we did take our freezer.

The new appliance I remember getting after our move was a clothes dryer!

Memories!