People love old things, things are not made like they used to be, but are old fridges actually better?
Other videos mentioned in this video:
Technology Connections Galanz Fridge Video
Original Ad
Other Resources
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Transcript:
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:19:00
Speaker 1
People online love old stuff. An Instagram I recently saw people losing their collective minds over the 1956 Frigidaire Imperial Cold Pantry, an impressive fridge that had people emphasizing that their fridges nowadays don't live up to this decades old machine.
00:00:19:00 - 00:00:32:05
Speaker 1
and a big picture window hydrator for fruits and vegetables. It tilts down to show you your supply at a glance, and it also lifts out so you can take it over to the sink when there's a fresh supply to be washed and put away.
00:00:32:05 - 00:00:40:04
Speaker 1
I mean, I know my fridge does not have a picture window hydrator full of fruits and vegetables that I can take over to the sink.
00:00:40:06 - 00:01:10:04
Speaker 1
But here's the rub. Gail Pooley went back and found an ad that had a price for this fridge in 1956, and it was $469.95 in 2020 for inflation. Adjusting that using Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. That would be $5,500. What kind of fridge can we buy for that amount of money? Well, we can get a 72 cubic foot capacity commercial fridge if you want, but maybe that's not your style.
00:01:10:06 - 00:01:34:12
Speaker 1
How would a 26 cubic foot KitchenAid with a built in water dispenser, something that they did not have on the cold pantry with three different drawers for your freezer and money left over. Not your style, but a 28 cubic foot capacity cafe brand fridge with special temperature adjusted drawers, extra freezer components and unlike the cold pantry, dual evaporators.
00:01:34:14 - 00:01:58:20
Speaker 1
Looking at Frigidaire specifically just to compare to them, their most expensive top freezer refrigerator $1,000. Now it may lack the Imperial's removable picture window hydrator, but I does have the space wise organizational system. If you really need marketing gobbledygook in your refrigerator now, perhaps we like people don't get top freezer fridges at the top of the line anymore.
00:01:59:02 - 00:02:23:06
Speaker 1
So we compared to Frigidaire four door options and even still the most expensive one is $2,500. And hey, if you need marketing gobbledygook, they've got a custom flex temp drawer. Maybe you're not a high roller like that. I'm not. My fridge was less expensive than these. It's a 21 cubic foot capacity Samsung fridge that we got in 2020 on sale, and it was under a grand.
00:02:23:08 - 00:02:43:02
Speaker 1
You can get about five of these for the cost of the old Imperial Pantry. Now, of course you don't need five fridges, but probably I don't know you specifically, but I'm going to assume you do not need five fridges. I'm not technology connections, so I'm not going over the refrigerator cycle during this video. But watch this video from him.
00:02:43:03 - 00:03:08:04
Speaker 1
It's great. The Appliance Standards Awareness Project that we use, data from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers to create this chart. The reason I'm showing this is because it shows that in the early 70s, you could run for modern fridges for the amount of energy a fridge took back then. And that was after a decade and a half of improvement over the Imperial Cold Pantry.
00:03:08:06 - 00:03:15:14
Speaker 1
So not only could you buy five of my fridge for the cost of the Imperial Cold Pantry. You could run all five as well.
00:03:15:14 - 00:03:20:10
Speaker 1
Then we had to talk briefly. I promised briefly about refrigerants,
00:03:20:10 - 00:03:23:10
Speaker 1
Old refrigerants were often really bad for our health.
00:03:23:12 - 00:03:52:01
Speaker 1
These things included ammonia, sulfur dioxide, sometimes just propane. Eventually, these were replaced, thanks in part to Frigidaire researchers who created things like the Imperial Cold Pantry. They were replaced with chlorofluorocarbons and hydro chlorofluorocarbons, which you might know as the things which destroyed the ozone layer. Why am I believe this? Because this nostalgia destroys people's ability to accurately judge and appreciate things.
00:03:52:03 - 00:04:27:17
Speaker 1
Up watching an advertisement. It is meant to convince you this fridge is special. And you were watching it and going, oh wow, that's special. Not to mention that this was the top of the line refrigerator and still, still is so much worse than we have now. Now, don't get me wrong, the Imperial Cold Pantry is cool, but even watching these ads, I was struck by how it seemed like many of the features we're trying to make do with the specific way the cold flowed through this machine.
00:04:27:19 - 00:05:05:02
Speaker 1
It's not a dual evaporator system. They were pumping the cold in at one point and it was moving through the fridge, and so things had to be placed in certain areas to get their appropriate amount of cold. And that's cool. I think it's clever, but it doesn't make the fridge better. It arguably makes it worse. But nostalgia, this corrosive force convinced you that your fridge, which is larger, more efficient, better for the environment, less expensive, is somehow worse because it doesn't have a miss America winner from the 1940s telling you about how special it is.
00:05:05:04 - 00:05:33:08
Speaker 1
Believe me, the present has a variety of problems, but the vast majority of things are way better than they used to be. And you should try to experience gratitude for the fact that your fridge is, historically speaking, inexpensive, cheap to run, works well and keeps your food at a safe temperature. This is incredibly important and focusing on the lack of a removable picture window.
00:05:33:08 - 00:05:48:13
Speaker 1
Hydrator is playing right into the hands of marketers for Frigidaire from the 50s. Why do you need to help marketers for Frigidaire in the 50s? This fridge is worse than your fridge.
