Kelvinator

Kelvinator is an appliance brand. It takes its name from William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, who developed the concept of absolute zero and for whom the Kelvin temperature scale is named. The name was thought appropriate for a company that manufactured ice-boxes and domestic refrigerators.

Merger with Nash Motors
On January 4, 1937, the company merged with Nash Motors to form Nash-Kelvinator Corporation as part of a deal that placed Mason at the helm of the combined company. In 1952, it acquired the Altorfer Bros. Company, which made home laundry equipment under the ABC brand name.

Integration into American Motors
Nash-Kelvinator became a division of American Motors (AMC) when Nash merged with Hudson in 1954. Kelvinator introduced the first auto-defrost model side-by-side refrigerator in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, Kelvinator refrigerators introduced "picture frame" doors on some models allowing owners to decorate their appliance to match décor of their kitchens.

Under the leadership of Roy D. Chapin Jr. AMC sold off its Kelvinator operations in 1968. (AMC then purchased Jeep Corporation from Kaiser in 1970) Kelvinator joined White Consolidated Industries, a company that had also acquired the rights to Frigidaire (formerly owned by General Motors), Gibson, Tappan, and White-Westinghouse product lines. White Consolidated Industries was acquired by Electrolux of Sweden in the early 80's.

In the early 1990s, the name of the Dublin, Ohio based holding company changed to Frigidaire Company.