Thread Number: 76932
/ Tag: Refrigerators
1940's Cavalier / Frigidaire "water bath" Coca-Cola Cooler... |
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Post# 1008337 , Reply# 1   9/23/2018 at 19:59 (2,013 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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Post# 1008338 , Reply# 2   9/23/2018 at 20:03 (2,013 days old) by ken (NYS)   |   | |
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Post# 1008346 , Reply# 3   9/23/2018 at 21:00 (2,013 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)   |   | |
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Post# 1008378 , Reply# 5   9/24/2018 at 04:07 (2,013 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)   |   | |
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Post# 1008379 , Reply# 6   9/24/2018 at 04:20 (2,013 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)   |   | |
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Post# 1008382 , Reply# 7   9/24/2018 at 06:27 (2,013 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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I am afraid that I also remember seeing a few of these operating, LOL. The advantage of these machines is they could cool additional bottles very quickly when they refilled them and also the very uniform cooling of the sodas.
I imagine they fell out of favor because of more maintenance from having to change the water after awhile and the mess from water that would drip from bottles as they were removed from the machine [ probably why most of these coolers I ever saw were outside the convenience store ]
Hi David, I am looking forward to seeing more pictures of this restoration, however it seems like a lot of work to try to put in a 2nd evaporator, fan etc in fairly limited space, but I am sure you can do it.
John L. |
Post# 1008383 , Reply# 8   9/24/2018 at 06:33 (2,013 days old) by kimball455 (Cape May, NJ)   |   | |
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Post# 1008389 , Reply# 9   9/24/2018 at 08:22 (2,013 days old) by ken (NYS)   |   | |
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Post# 1008394 , Reply# 10   9/24/2018 at 09:09 (2,012 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)   |   | |
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Post# 1008399 , Reply# 11   9/24/2018 at 09:42 (2,012 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)   |   | |
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Post# 1008480 , Reply# 13   9/24/2018 at 22:17 (2,012 days old) by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA)   |   | |
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Thanks guys for the great discussion! Here is a video about today's check out of the cooler!
Everything is pretty well 100% GM / Frigidaire. It's great since I am a GM guy!
The condenser fan is seized up, but hopefully I will be able to save it.
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Post# 1008527 , Reply# 14   9/25/2018 at 10:41 (2,011 days old) by kevin313 (Detroit, Michigan)   |   | |
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Seeing that water-cooled cooler really brings back memories…thanks so much for posting. When I was a kid, we would spend a week or two every summer at my aunt’s cottage at Higgins Lake, which is located in Michigan’s lower peninsula. Days were spent swimming in the lake or playing on the beach, exploring acres of woods to find weird bugs and old abandoned cabins, riding bikes, picking wild blackberries for mom to make a pie, or hanging out with other kids we met up there.
Auntie had an old portable Zenith TV in the living room that had rabbit ear antennas with tin-foil wrapped around the tips. It only got one station – and the reception was so bad you could hardly make out what was on the screen, so the TV was never on. So if it was raining, or in the late evening, we would listen to the radio or play records, read books, play pinochle or board games, and sit around and talk with neighbors and friends. We were never bored – not for a moment – and by the end of the day, we fell fast asleep with the cool summer breezes coming across the lake and through the cottage windows. Mom and auntie made breakfast for us; pancakes, waffles or eggs, which we devoured and then shot out the door to start a new day. Every few days, my brothers and I would make the hike – probably a mile – to the closest store. It was an old wooden building that was painted brown. Near the road, it had a rusty Shell sign from the 40’s with a couple of pumps in the front. Between them was a sign that read, “Honk for Service!” and from time to time one of the people who worked there was gassing up a car. There wasn’t any self-service in those days. A rickety screen door was in the middle of the building’s front and it had a bell attached to a spring that would jingle every time the door opened. When I would walk in I was greeted by that familiar smell that so many places near the water often have – a little musty, a little woodsy, a little stale, a little damp. The store seemed to sell everything, but I think its most popular item was worms. There was an old refrigerator near the cash register that had “Live Bait” painted on it and it was packed with round cardboard containers with holes poked in the lids. My dad bought one once and I remember seeing the night crawlers moving around the dirt that was inside the container. Funds were limited, so our purchases were generally limited to candy and pop (that’s what we call soda here in Michigan). On those hot and humid summer afternoons, nothing tasted better than an ice cold pop, and against the back wall of the store was the very machine you have posted are refurbishing!! I would make a bee-line for that cooler. From the perspective of a 10-year old, it was a gigantic, enormous thing. I was just tall enough to be able to flip open the lid and look down inside. Sure, there was Coca-Cola among the offerings, but my eyes would quickly scan the bottle caps that were just above the water's surface. NuGrape, 7-UP, Vernor’s, Nesbitt’s Orange, Squirt, Hire’s Root Beer…oh, what to choose! As I stood there debating the choices, I would hear the whirring of the water circulating pump as I watched the tiny streams form around the necks of the pop bottles. When I finally decided, I would reach my hand in the cooler – so very, very cold – and pull out a dripping wet bottle of goodness. I’m sure I must had dripped water across the creaky wooden floors on my way to the cash register, but no one ever said anything. Next to the door there was a bottle opener that hung on the wall with a metal box underneath to catch the caps. I’d open that bottle and take that first sweet ice-cold sip…so good! I had never seen a water-cooled cooler anywhere else but inside that little store. And I haven’t seen one since, but I’m so grateful to have been reminded from your post. The memories just came flooding back to me! What a wonderful time that was for me and my family. I guess every generation remembers certain things with fondness, but I’m so glad to have been born at a time when I could have found so much adventure and pleasure in simple things. Thanks again! |
Post# 1008531 , Reply# 15   9/25/2018 at 11:16 (2,011 days old) by ken (NYS)   |   | |
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When was the last time you were back there? Is the cabin still in the family? Wouldn't be surprised the store building is long gone. Im sure the area has changed so you would hardly recognize it.
Of the different sodas you mentioned I've never heard of Vernors. Did they make different flavors? Is Squirt still made today? It was a lemon-lime flavor, no? Never tried it as I recall. |
Post# 1008536 , Reply# 16   9/25/2018 at 12:47 (2,011 days old) by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA)   |   | |
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Hi Kevin - thanks so much for the great story about your childhood cabin trip memories. These stories are what make it worth sharing projects in these communities!
Also, today I got the agitator motor tested. It's working, although the cabinet liner seems to have a leak.
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Post# 1008578 , Reply# 17   9/25/2018 at 20:07 (2,011 days old) by Dustin92 (Jackson, MI)   |   | |
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Vernors is a ginger ale type soda, good once in a while but very very fizzy. As far as I know it's only available in Michigan. Yes, Squirt is still available, it's a citrusy flavored soda, very similar to Fresca if that's any more familiar. |
Post# 1008624 , Reply# 18   9/26/2018 at 00:46 (2,011 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 1008686 , Reply# 20   9/26/2018 at 16:37 (2,010 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio)   |   | |
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This OHIOan has been drinking Vernors for most of his 58 years! (Now I take my Vernors (and other pop) room temperature. Prefer it that way) Lawrence/Maytabear |
Post# 1008697 , Reply# 21   9/26/2018 at 18:41 (2,010 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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We have Vernor's waaaaaaaay out here on the left coast. I can remember it being popular with the hippie dippy organic types in the early '70s.
I'm surprised that Squirt isn't widely known like other popular soda flavors. It's been around as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I "salvaged" a metal advertising sign for Squirt (maybe 16" x 36" or so) from a small grocery store that had ceased operations. I remember giving it away to a friend a few years later.
I don't recall ever having seen one of these swirling type coolers. The oldest I remember were the ones that had the necks of the bottles sticking up, and you had to grab the small exposed portion of the neck and slide (yank, actually) the bottle down and jog it over to the area where it was possible to extract it. I could never get the hang of it. I don't think I've seen a cooler of that type since I was 10 or so. |
Post# 1008715 , Reply# 23   9/26/2018 at 21:22 (2,010 days old) by ken (NYS)   |   | |
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Thanks for the info concerning Vernors and Squirt. I researched both and found the following:
Vernors is a ginger flavored soft drink and the oldest surviving ginger ale brand in the United States. It was created in 1866 by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist. Squirt is a caffeine-free, grapefruit-flavored, carbonated soft drink, created in 1938 in Phoenix, Arizona. Squirt (originally named Citrus Club) was created by Herb Bishop in 1938, after experimenting in college. The result used less fruit juice and less sugar than some other drinks, and Bishop claimed it had the "freshest, most exciting taste in the marketplace". I believe we have Squirt here just never tried it. Ive never been much of a soda drinker. |
Post# 1008730 , Reply# 24   9/26/2018 at 23:51 (2,010 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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Double Cola and Royal Crown were both common on the west coast. We had a Double Cola bottling facility in an old corrugated quonset hut just a few blocks from our house when I was a kid -- and I liked Double Cola best.
RC and their no-calorie brand, Diet Rite Cola, can still found today. I think 7-Up may own them now. I bought a 12-pack of RC (because it was on sale) not too long ago. Not all stores carry it. I'm not a cola snob, so any brand is OK with me. |
Post# 1008765 , Reply# 25   9/27/2018 at 16:23 (2,009 days old) by JustJunque (Western MA)   |   | |
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Yup. We have RC on the east coast as well.
I think, like you said, you don't see it in every store, but we do have it. And, it's been around for a while! This old tin sign came out of a store that my wife's family owned ages ago. It's supposed to have a picture of a bottle on the left side as well. Unfortunately, someone must have chopped it off due to space limitations in the store or something. Still a nice looking sign. Barry
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Post# 1012135 , Reply# 27   10/25/2018 at 23:44 (1,981 days old) by Stan (Napa CA)   |   | |
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Post# 1012142 , Reply# 28   10/26/2018 at 00:10 (1,981 days old) by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA)   |   | |
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Hi Stan! LOL at that comment as today was very rainy and prevented me from making any videos; due to the noise on the roof of the metal building! |
Post# 1012222 , Reply# 29   10/26/2018 at 23:12 (1,980 days old) by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA)   |   | |
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Looking a little better clean, and with some paint on the parts! |
Post# 1012553 , Reply# 30   10/30/2018 at 00:29 (1,977 days old) by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA)   |   | |
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So, today I got the condensing unit together and tested. Also, a local advertising sign / auto / art restoration company picked up the shell of the cooler for refurbishment.
Test:
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Post# 1012604 , Reply# 31   10/30/2018 at 03:50 (1,977 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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