We looked at a house that had one of these refrigerators, in just that color. The house was built in the mid-1950s and had never been touched - we looked at it in the early 90s and everything was intact, including the flocked wallpaper and the mauve counters to go with the turquoise cabinets (all of which matched the refrigerator). There was a cooktop and wall oven and built-in dishwasher. It was clearly the top-of-the-line, deluxe kitchen at the time of its creation.

Standardization also saves the consumer money.

I postulate that suspending 250 pounds of fridge and food by cantilever is prohibitively expensive for wide acceptance.

I agree that there is a good argument for standardization killing innovation, but I'm not sure this is it. The standard refrigerator was replaced with a separate freezer that seems to take up more space and requires a lot of bending over.

um, and it would be very difficult for short users to actually get the food. that's my biggest problem with it, me being 5 ft

I would be constantly worried it would fall off...when you have something being supported by gravity rather than a few bolts it just seems inherently stronger. I mean, what happens if the bolts rust or otherwise degrade?

Plus, is it every a good idea to put the picnic ham above your head?

I had a friend who actually had one of those in her house. Things tended to die in the back of the top shelf remarkably easily, and then you had to go get a ladder to clean it out. It was vastly more annoying and uncomfortable than squatting to dredge the dead out of a normal fridge.

I thought for sure you would have something to say about the complete disconnect between the illustration and the tagline, "All foods at your eye level." Only one of the three shelves are at the woman's eye level and she could maybe reach much of the food up to the second level (but possibly only the very front of the second level), but not above that. Even being able to reach the food, however, she'd still be groping blindly. That's about as user-unfriendly as it gets for food storage.

Why replace a kitchen appliance that does the work perfectly well, and which has the vast majority of kitchens designed for it, with something that, well, doesn't and isn't? Looks like the kitchen/appliance designers at GE had caught on to what product developers in all sorts of industries were figuring out in the same era: keep changing the design so people will always want what's new.

I also got stuck on the height thing. I can just barely reach the bottom shelf of the cabinet above the fridge in our house, and I'm 5'6" so above average height for women! Having refrigerated stuff up that high would be grossly inconvenient to my mind. I'd be happier with all cabinets being lower - I'm the one who does all of the cooking anyway! Also, for food storage in general, we have a pantry and so do most people as far as I know, the very top shelves are always for storage of rarely-needed things. The actual food is actually *at* my eye level.

Nifty as it looks, I wouldn't want one living in California.

didn't anyone notice that she's sitting down, and that if she stood up, then the food would then be at eye level?

"Squatting for the crisper" is definitely stupid, which is why you can buy units with the frozen section *on the bottom* where it belongs. The rest is then easily in reach, even for me, and I'm short.

As for the cabinet fridge, I suppose there might be some good aspects to it. But where are the refrigerant coils and how do you get at them to clean them? With a floor/standing unit you can just pull it out to clean the coils. (For those of you who aren't householders, the coils need cleaning or else become inefficient and your lettuce freezes.)

They were great! My grandparents had one in their late-1940s-built Modern house in Los Angeles, and they weren't installed just hanging out like this one is -- they were built into sturdy cabinets. It was much, much easier to use than a regular fridge and you had all that storage space beneath, too.

Sadly, the fridge finally completely bit the dust in the mid-90s and was not replaceable. They ended up having to rip out about half of the original kitchen cabinets to fit a more conventional fridge into the space, and it's never been quite as good as the old one.

I find it a great example of how we can be so conditioned in the smallest things. I find this fridge completely weird.

The height thing is a bit of a red herring - one assumes it could be installed at any height. My issue would be the horizontal nature of it, which would surely effect efficiency, given that cold air sinks? Also, this design would eat into your other cupboard space quite a bit ... somehow, I think, more so that 'normal' fridges, though I'm not sure why.

If standardization dulls creativity, then why has everyone been struggling with trying to figure out the VCR/DVR/TV controls for the past few decades? The only decent controller I've ever seen or used has been the one for the Tivo!

Don't get me started on bad electronics designs...

andrea

To me, it seems completely bizarre because I've never seen anything like it before.

We are in the market for a new fridge at the moment, so I find it quite interesting that 'upside down' fridges are marketed the exact same way - everything you use is at eye-level. What is also interesting, is that I am partially resistant at getting one because I've never had one before and would rather have the comfortable and familiar. (The other reasons are efficiency, space - the freezer space in an upside down seems smaller because they have drawers not shelves, and I'm not the only person who uses the fridge: my three-year-old is somewhat shorter than me.)

so i guess the side by side kind is like a compromise for those who don't know if they want their freezer on top of their fridge or vice versa. and i don't think i'd want a fridge like this. it looks nice and all, but i wouldn't trust for anything that heavy to be mounted to the wall.

I think it looks kind of neat! The woman is sitting down, which gives the impression it is mounted higher than it actually is. I am a teeny-tiny apartment dweller and I like the idea of getting the extra counter space. I can see so many reasons why it might be a bad idea, though.

I think another interesting aspect of this is the implications for the disabled. While, in 1956 the manufacturers wouldn't have been concerned with this, one has to think what things would have been like for those in need of a wheelchair if this had become the standard refrigerator. I also have to wonder if this might have been marketed differently now, with changes in views towards the disabled.

It's strange that this looks unusual to us. We all shop in grocery stores, where we're used to seeing refrigerated compartments of all kinds of configurations placed at many different levels. And anyone who has worked in a restaurant is used to walk-in fridges and freezers. I always wished I could have a walk-in fridge in my house!

"Eye level"? Only for the bottom shelf! Can the woman in that advert actually reach the top shelf I wonder? (I probably couldn't, if that ceiling is at normal height; although I am short - I think it would be a big problem for wheelchair users) I think it would be more convenient if it were at the counter height (and presumably you could have it installed at any height), but of course that would take up valuable work surface space.

I would generally prefer, I think, not to be lifting heavy things down from above head height. Indeed, I keep my heavy pans in a floor level cupboard and only light-weight or rarely-used things in the high up cupboards in our kitchen.

"Standardization, while quite useful, can also kill innovation."
Doesn't this fall in line with McDonaldization?

My grandparents' house in Albuquerque still has a fridge like this. They have had it repaired a few times and painted it white (it used to be teal, like the one in the ad) but it still works. I always liked it because it doesn't take up the visual space of a monolithic fridge. As far as losing food in it goes, even though the top shelves are somewhat high, the cabinets are not as deep as a standard fridge, so in my experience, the items are more visible.

Here is a pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christykilgorehadley/2429657744/

I know why this didn't catch on. If you're short, you can't reach it. It even looks like the woman in the ad would have a hard time reaching the top shelf.

I'm short, and kitchen cabinets drive me nuts. Everything I use on any regular basis is crammed onto the bottom shelves where I don't need a footstool.

Something else to keep in mind - kids can't reach this.

I Still have one in my house in kansas that works great .... my wife and I use this as our beverage ref. as to not take up all the space in our side by side ref .... the whole kitchen is metal cabinets and was painted petal pink from the factory but just took everything to the auto body shop and had everything painted jet black .... looks soooooo much better

As for storage it will hold 3- 24 packs of beer and pop(soda)

This refrigerator makes an appearance in the movie "Horsemen" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892767/). Its early in the movie. Dennis Quaid's character is in his kitchen looking for the milk. Indeed I just found this page after Google searching for that type of refrigerator, having never seen one before.

I'm in the process of a kitchen remodel for a customer. I just took a G E wall hung refrigerator off the wall and it is available. I has not worked for several years but to the best of my knowledge it is complete with storage cabinets below the refrigerator. These cabinets sit on the counter top below the refrigerator.

Seems like they would be difficult for the kids to reach!

my grandma had an impressive array of wall fridges/freezers, too!  anyone know where one can buy one?

These refrigerators can be repaired by a competent refrigeration tech to run as long as you want it too. All parts can be replaced including gaskets, fan motors, defrost controls, evaporator and condenser coil, compressor etc. I have thought about making one for myself but to create the insulated case and doors plus attractive shelving would be too much work.

These fridges are still quite common in europe.

I would love this.  I have back issues and would far rather use a step stool to get to the top shelf, than have to bend to get to the bottom of a vertical fridge as I do now.... this would be BRILLIANT for me!

I recently moved into my old family home with my family and my daughter's friends get a kick out of ours. It's the ugly brown though so I'm thinking of using liquid stainless on it to update it. Has anyone tried this? It's too difficult to remove to have painted by a pro, so I'm thinking of doing it myself. I work in design.
Our only issue lately is that in the refer it drips from up top and our freezer needs regular defrosting about every 3-6 months. Maybe this is normal for that time. What do you guys keep the two temps at in the refer? There is one on the left door and one up top inside the unit's middle door. Lately things are freezing in the refer, we can't seem to get it set right it's really touchy.

I grew up with a pink GE wall fridge in my family home. I don't remember any of us 5 kids or my parents having any problems getting into it.
My father, who was a home builder, included it at my mother's request in the new home he built for her in 1959 in LA Crosse, WI.
I didn't realize at the time that it was not common. My mom sold the house in the mid to late 70's. It was a great house with lots of unique features.
I would love to buy the house back someday, if it still has things like the wall fridge.

Anyone interested in a non working fridge? We just recently listed it on ebay...trying to find a new home for her! http://www.ebay.com/itm/382037151411?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

I lived in a house in college that had one of these. It was a cool 50's house with all sorts of odd build-ins like a ironing board, a drawer that went through the whole counter from the kitchen to the dining room, and a pink bathroom.

The issue I had with the fridge is that it was small. The freezer was tiny - one small cabinet door that's probably half of even a small freezer side today. I guess they weren't eating as much frozen food then.

I grew up with one of these in my house. I was a kid and don recall any issues getting to anything. I can't remember if I actually reached it or jumped up on the counter lol. I came across this out or curiosity wondering if they still made them and wondering what whoever bought that house would have done when it was time to replace it. Refrigerators lasted forever back then.

I have a working one in my house. No problems with it for 20 years.
However, I'm remodeling and would love to sell it (and it's cousin, in my garage) if anyone is interested.

I have a brown one in my home built in the 1950's. Still functioning. Would love to share photos!

I have one of these in my kitchen. It was installed in 1955 and still runs well. I have not had it serviced in the 41 years I have owned my home. It frees up counter space, but he down side is the freezer was designed for 1950s homes and is only large enough for a few ice cube trays in and several boxes of TV dinners and Swanson's frozen peas....and a gallon of ice cream. I have a full sized side by side in an ajoining room.
One light switch does not work so I cannot keep a light bulb in it because it always stays on. Other than that, it is a functional conversation piece that always gets favorable comments from visitors seeing it for the first time.

P.S. I also have the original manual that the previous owner left for me.

Height was not a problem for my 5'2" mother or my 5'1" wife. Still trying to keep mine working. New gaskets coming. Cannot find competent technicians to work on it.

We're there showers with more than one shower head in the 50s

you personalize your home for comfort, cabinets too high have them lower if you are short. I personally think this is pure genius. Why let this go to the wayside? just update it with the technology of today. Nobody said you have to install cabinets or something like this to the top of the ceiling. Even Julia Child had her home cabinets raised to comfort her 6'3'' height. I like this refrigerator cabinet-style idea because some houses just don't have floor space. I have lived in several homes and not one had a pantry. But a pantry has nothing to do where a refrigerator goes.

we had one from our 1966 house that was in place from the sale of the house, within a few months the compressor died having no choice to service/replace because the kitchen design was built around it. GE said this was a design flaw having the motor up high where it stay warm or hot constantly running in a climate or house that did not have central air. It worked til the mid/late 90s. RIP

we had one from our 1966 house that was in place from the sale of the house, within a few months the compressor died having no choice to service/replace because the kitchen design was built around it. GE said this was a design flaw having the motor up high where it stays warm or hot constantly running in a climate or house that did not have central air. It worked til the mid/late 90s. We loved it, so cool the funky 50/60 colors pink inside and lemon yellow exterior, visitors or guest would always say (wheres your fridge once they where in the kitchen),