What would life be like without the standard refrigerator in use in every kitchen in America? In 1914, Nathaniel B. Wales an engineer in Detroit Michigan had an idea for a electric refrigeration unit. It later became known as the Kelvinator and it was the first refrigerator as we know it.
Some of the first refrigerators were started by Frigidaire, a company started by auto pioneer William C. Durant when he purchased Alfred Mellowes' commercial refrigerator.
An interesting article on the refrigerator and how it has affected society can be found in http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2014/07/07/one-hundred-years-of-the-fridge/