We used to be a country, a proper country…
What ever happened to our nation’s once great refrigerators? When the invention first came around in the early 1900’s, it was a complete game changer. No longer were ice boxes necessary, because the giant rectangular cooling box (fridge) became a staple of every kitchen.
And based on this advertisement from 1956, refrigerator manufacturers used to take pride in building fridges that were both practical and effective. It seems as though mass produced fridges nowadays have lost the flare and intuitiveness that refrigerators of the past once had.
Just take a look at this fridge from 1956 and all of the innovative bells and whistles that were included with it:
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
I’m actually thinking of a number of different things (one of those being the question of why modern day fridges are so boring), but the main idea that stands out to me after watching that clip is just how perfect of a garage beer fridge that would be.
Imagine just plugging that thing up in the ol’ one car or two car garage (attached or detached, doesn’t matter) and showing off your collection of beers to whoever is partaking in garage beers with you.
You’d be the talk of the town, or at the very least the neighborhood, if you were able to utilize the above fridge as a dedicated, incredibly vital beer cooling system. The only portion of the fridge that wouldn’t be conducive to being a garage beer is the butter storage section. Maybe you could stuff some koozies in there though? That might work…
Everything else about it is just pure perfection. The tall side storage parts in the doors would be perfect for bottles, tall boys, and regular sized cans, and the removable vegetable storage container on the door? You can go ahead and dedicate that to your craft brews.
Just think of packing that thing full of craft brews, and when your guests ask what you have, you can just pull that bad boy out and let them peruse through it like a beer rolodex.
And don’t even get me started on the pull out shelfs. Such an ingenious feature, and perfect for beer and alcohol storage. No longer would you have to move things over to get to some of the back-of-the-fridge brewskis. You can just roll that shelf out and pick and chose what you want (restocking would be a breeze as well).
As for the freezer section, that looks like the perfect place and set up for some chilled mugs, which obviously always elevates a beer, no matter the quality. Then you’ve got the nifty ice cube tray, which would be the perfect set up for yourself (or guests) when you are whipping up a cocktail “on the rocks.”
It’s a real shame that fridge companies aren’t crafting products like these anymore. They’d make a killing bringing this style of refrigerator back and marketing them specifically as “garage beer holders.” Granted, you can get some pretty high tech refrigerators these days, but you’re gonna spend 10 grand or more.
Just an idea, and one that I would like partial credit for if it were to happen (I’m looking at you “Big Fridge” industry).
