Servel invented the automatic icemaker. In 1958, Whirlpool Corp. acquired the refrigeration and home appliance division and its Evansville, IN manufacturing plant. Starting in 1955, they had merged with Seeger Refrigeration of Evansville, and then bought the International Harvester refrigerator facility. This gave Whirlpool ownership of all refrigerator factories in that town. All this occured with the backing of Sears, of course., as they were the primary customer.