Ad from Consolidated Gas Company,
"There's No Magic About Gas Refrigeration"
From Five Hundred Representative Public Utility Advertisements, 1928
Public Utilities Advertising Association

Text reads:
"There's No Magic About Gas Refrigeration

"But you'll think there is when you see the effortless and almost uncanny process of the Gas Refrigerators now on exhibition at all display offices of your Gas Company. (Consult telephone directory for the nearest.)

"Gas Refrigeration produces constant cold by the simplest and most economical method possible. And there are no moving parts to wear out or cause vibration. Before buying your ice-less refrigerator, be sure to get the facts about

"Automatic Refrigeration Without Machinery

"Consolidated Gas Company, Geo. B. Cortelyou ** President"

"Use this coupon"

Text in coupon reads: "130 East 15th Street, N.Y.C. Room 1238:

"Without obligation, please send me a copy of the 16-page booklet, "The Flame That Freezes," describing the operation of the Gas Refrigerator.

"Also please send me all information available on operating data, costs, etc." Name and Address lines are then given.

     Electric power advocates faced stiff competition against an incumbent energy infrastructure -- gas. Gas lighting, gas heating, and gas cooking were already established, with heavily capitalized production, distribution, and consumption components. Many utilities ultimately consolidated gas and electric organizations into single companies.

     Refrigeration provided another area for competition. Gas refrigeration units operate on an absorption principle, unlike the compression principle used in electric refrigerators, and thus do not require a motor. (Note the reference to "no moving parts" in this ad.) Manufactured throughout this century, gas refrigerators can still be found today, usually in remote buildings like hunting and vacation cabins. The number of units in use is not clear, as noted in a recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warning about Servel Gas Refrigerators made between 1933 and 1957. See release # 98-145, dated 22 July 1998, on the web at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml98/98145.html