Hotpoint Refrigerator
name: label: maker
content: Hotpoint
notes: label: Description
content: General Electric manufactured this Hotpoint brand refrigerator about 1960. After World War II, consumer spending on new electrical household appliances soared as economic prosperity fueled the purchases of new homes and brought on a new era of American affluence. Hotpoint advertised their products as a way to “live better electrically” while also being aesthetically pleasing. Hotpoint’s model 9EW12 came in basic white as well as four glamorous colortones—coral pink, sunburst yellow, copper brown, and turquoise—allowing the buyer to add a dash of style to a formerly staid appliance. The fridge has several features including “swing-out” shelves that allowed easy access to the back of the fridge, as well as a “reserve coldpower” to quickly cool the fridge from constant “open-shut” use. Hotpoint touted the fridge as increasing access-ability, clean-ability, move-ability, and stor-ability. These added features became necessary as customers had more choices in a competitive market. New colors and stying were also halmarks of planned obsolescence; a business strategy that used style to convince consumers to trade old appliances for new on a regular basis and increase spending.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Production and Manufacturing
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content: American Enterprise
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content: Domestic Furnishings
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Sewer, Andy; Allison, David; Liebhold, Peter; Davis, Nancy; Franz, Kathleen G.. American Enterprise: A History of Business in America
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Peter Liebhold
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2013.3093.01
label: accession number
content: 2013.3093
label: catalog number
content: 2013.3093.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: refrigerator
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: aqua (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 65 in x 32 1/4 in x 57 in; 165.1 cm x 81.915 cm x 144.78 cm