Editing Kelvinator (section)

==History==
[[File:Kelvinator 1920 newspaper ad.png|thumb|upright|Kelvinator ad from 1920]]
[[File:Icebox - Cà d'Zan - John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art - Sarasota, FL - DSC00369.jpg|thumb|Kelvinator refrigerator, c. 1926]]

The enterprise was established on September 18, 1914, in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], United States, by engineer [[Nathaniel B. Wales]], who introduced his idea for a practical electric refrigeration unit for the home to Edmund Copeland and Arnold Goss.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.kelvinator-intl.com/history_kelvinator.asp |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071227060610/http://www.kelvinator-intl.com/history_kelvinator.asp |archive-date=27 December 2007 |title=History |publisher=Electrolux International Company |year=2007 |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref>

Wales, a young inventor, secured financial backing from Arnold Goss, then secretary of the [[Buick]] Automobile company, to develop the first household mechanical refrigerators to be marketed under the name "Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Company".<ref name="hubbert">{{cite web |url= http://www.chhistory.org/FeatureStories.php?Story=KelvinHome |last=Hubbert |first=Christopher J. |title=The Kelvin Home: Cleveland Heights Leads the Way to: 'a New and Better Way of Living' |publisher=Cleveland Heights Historical Society |year=2006 |access-date=24 May 2013 |archive-date=31 January 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130131083208/http://www.chhistory.org/FeatureStories.php?Story=KelvinHome |url-status=dead }}</ref> After producing many experimental models, Wales selected one for manufacturing.

In February 1916, the name of the business was changed to "Kelvinator Company" in honor of the Irish-Scottish physicist, Lord Kelvin ([[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin]]), the discoverer of [[absolute zero]]. Kelvinator was among two dozen home refrigerators introduced to the U.S. market in 1916. In 1918, Kelvinator introduced the first refrigerator with any type of automatic control.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.history.com/exhibits/modern/fridge.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080326092256/http://www.history.com/exhibits/modern/fridge.html |year=2006 |archive-date=26 March 2008 |title=History of the Refrigerator |website=history.com |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref>

Frustrated by iceboxes, the Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company introduced a [[porcelain]]-lined "Leonard Cleanable" ice cabinet.<ref name="Beld">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EsalzuFqmpUC&q=Grand+Rapids+Kelvinator+Leonard+AMC&pg=PA71 |pages=70–71 |title=Grand times in Grand Rapids: pieces of Furniture City history |first=Gordon |last=Beld |publisher=History Press |year=2012 |isbn=9781609496296 |access-date=24 May 2013 }}</ref> Kelvinator began buying Leonard's boxes for its electric refrigerated models. By 1923, the Kelvinator Company held 80% of the American market for electric refrigerators.<ref name="hubbert"/>

On July 3, 1925, Kelvinator bought [[Nizer Corporation]] in a tri-party merger valued at $20 million.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ice Machine Merger Is Said to Impend; Kelvinator and Nizer Concerns Named in $20,000,000 Electrical Refrigerator Deal|date=3 July 1925 |newspaper=The New York Times |url= https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D10FB3C5D167A93C1A9178CD85F418285F9 |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref>

In 1926, the company acquired [[Leonard (appliances)|Leonard]], which had been founded in 1881. Kelvinator concentrated its entire appliance production at the Grand Rapids factory in 1928.<ref name="Beld"/> That year, [[George W. Mason]] assumed control of Kelvinator. Under his leadership, the company lowered its costs while increasing [[market share]] through 1936.

In 1936, Kelvinator introduced the "Kelvin Home", one of the earliest attempts to market in-home central air conditioning and heating to ordinary consumers. Customers could choose from several different home designs, all of which were equipped with climate control systems and the latest electric appliances, and were advertised to cost about $7,500 ($151,523 in 2022) <ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1936) | title=Calculate the Value of $1.00 in 1936. How much is it worth today? }}</ref> for a six-room house.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Typical Kelvin Home |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52912731/chicago-tribune/ |access-date=June 6, 2020 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=December 27, 1936 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=If You Plan To Build (advertisement) |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52913512/star-gazette/ |access-date=June 6, 2020 |newspaper=Elmira Star-Gazette |date=February 4, 1937 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The first Kelvin Home shown to the public was located in [[Livonia, Michigan]] and attracted thousands of visitors.<ref>{{cite news |title=More Than 10,000 See Kelvin Home |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52913733/detroit-free-press/ |access-date=June 6, 2020 |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |date=November 1, 1936 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Several surviving homes are registered historic properties, including some in the [[Rosedale Gardens Historic District]] in Livonia<ref>{{citation | title = National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Rosedale Gardens Historic District |first=R.O. |last=Christensen | series = File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Michigan, 1964 - 2013 | date = December 2009 |url= https://catalog.archives.gov/id/25340944 |access-date=June 6, 2020}}</ref> and the [[Kelvinator House]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]].<ref name=abqjournal38>{{cite news |title=New Kelvin Home Open to Public for Four Hours Today |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52830992/albuquerque-journal/ |access-date=June 5, 2020 |newspaper=Albuquerque Journal |date=February 20, 1938 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>