Coolerheads.org was created in September 2014 (started out as coolerheads.us) to be a resource for those of us who are admirers and collectors of those little machines that help us beat the heat. Anything from a 1932 Thorne unit, (Find one if you can!) to this year's fine imported model could be the topic of interest, but generally we're talking about a piece of equipment that's got some age on it.
These "Room Coolers" as they were known in the old days may to some be just big, noisy things that block the view from a window, but I think they deserve more respect than they get. I've been watching the internet for a long time, and I've found collector's clubs and web sites for just about every household gadget. For example, desk fans and vintage Christmas lights have been hotly collected since the early eighties at least.
The toaster collectors' club has been on the web for years; Here's an archive snap of a toaster fansite from 1998. Also, I remember reading about a guidebook that was published for people who collect electric waffle irons. (As I recall, the waffle iron guy was quoted as saying he couldn't figure out why anyone would want to collect toasters.) And whatever you do, don't get an ardent vacuum cleaner collector talking about his collection if you've got a train to catch.
Major kitchen and laundry appliances are the big draw for the community at the extensive automaticwasher.org site, although there are still those of us who remember that that site, in 2004, was renamed from "Applianceville". And what class of major appliance did that exclude from the main discussion forum? I'm sure you can guess.
So every appliance has its fanbase but I've long observed popularity of the lowly window unit seems to rate somewhere behind that of Toilets. And yes, there are vintage toilet fans on Youtube. (They used to have a website, too, still visible in archives.)
You may ask, how can I help with such a noble preservation effort? Pass this site on to any friends that might like to see this, especially any that may actually have one or more vintage units. Or any who might be likely to come across one or are in older houses a lot- like if they're in the businesses of Real Estate, remodeling, window replacement, salvage/scrapping, or holding estate sales, or just people who attend a lot of estate sales or are “pickers” or hoarders. And maybe give them a few printed copies of our flyer.pdf promo page, too.
And, you can also keep some copies to send to any address where you spot a vintage cooler! To “Occupant” or “Our Cool Neighbors.” Or to make an edited version, instead get flyer.ppt and use Powerpoint or the free LibreOffice package to make your changes. (So if someone sent you one, it may be different from the default standard.)
For now all I may have is some cool links and a few pictures, but it's a start. I have one little bit of actual content;I scanned two articles that give a general survey of various old units- Morgen's and Laube's. They're very interesting. The only trouble is, if you're a fan of some of the nice machines of the 1950s and 1960s, they aren't covered at all. Both articles were published on winter of 1950, and only discuss production through 1949.
Now, here are some cool links:
Mr. Ken Horan's Flickr stream #1 and Flickr stream #2 and Tumblr feed have lots of coolerspotting pictures and vintage documentation. Also on Flickr “The Air Conditioner Guy” has a bunch of pictures.
There's also a Flickr feed of art photos featuring air conditioners, and I found on the shorpy.com photo site an early pic of an installed window unit from 1942. Or is it something else? Find it peeking out of a second story window... Also on that site, check this interior shot of a cool drug store.
That automaticwasher.org site has a separate forum for discussing non-kitchen, non-laundry appliances; this A/C thread has been active there for a while.
Now, for the coolerheads.org tourist tips department: When vacationing in fabulous Hot Springs Arkansas, consider visiting the highly rated Tiny Town Trains exhibit and attraction. The intricate scenery of the large model railroad is kind of an outsider-art thing, made from scratch over many years, no kits used, all home-made. It's fun for the whole family! While you're there, see if there is still a circa-1953 Philco Model 80-J or similar under the layout table for no discernible reason other than extreme coolness. You won't see one of those at the Minnesota Twine Ball I'll bet.
As promised in the promo flyer, I also have a page of select links regarding other unusual collections.
Thanks, Andy Kluck, coolerheads.org webmaster. (E-mail postmaster
nospam.maxmicrochip.com;
leave in the nospam part!)Now, for some search engine bait, here is a long list of room air conditioner brands and manufacturers, in prose form. Just so anyone looking for information on old window air conditioners will find us. Like someone searching for the value of a vintage air conditioner or A/C. Or what else might someone search for? Antique air conditioner or ancient air conditioner or old window unit or oldest working air conditioner? We're talking about air conditioners as a collectible in a collection, maybe someday enough to fill an air conditioner museum!. Each name listed is a manufacturing company, marketing company, or branding name used on room air conditioners before 1960, in the U.S. unless noted. The names in deeper green are believed to have had some pre-war production, roughly before 1943, though in some cases these may have been floor standing console models, some requiring cooling water connections. Here's the list:
I think a fine vintage Admiral air conditioner could be quite desirable. And, a fabulous vintage Air Pilot air conditioner might be of collectible interest. Surely a remarkable vintage Airtemp air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And who would doubt that a marvelous vintage Ajax air conditioner might be highly coveted. I think a terrific vintage Amana air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And, a really swell vintage Ambassador air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it?
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Surely a lovely vintage AMC air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And who would doubt that a magnificent vintage Apco air conditioner could be quite desirable. I think a wonderful vintage Bryant air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And, an excellent vintage Carrier air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. Surely a well preserved vintage Catalina air conditioner might be highly coveted. And who would doubt that a fine vintage Cavalier air conditioner is something that would be great to find.
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I think a fabulous vintage Chrysler air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And, a remarkable vintage Chrysler Airtemp air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. Surely a marvelous vintage Coldspot air conditioner could be quite desirable. And who would doubt that a terrific vintage Coronado air conditioner might be of collectible interest. I think a really swell vintage Comfort-Aire air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And, a lovely vintage Cool-a-Matic air conditioner might be highly coveted.
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Surely a magnificent vintage Cooler-Aire air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And who would doubt that a wonderful vintage Coolerator air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? I think an excellent vintage Corozone air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And, a well preserved vintage Cory air conditioner could be quite desirable. Surely a fine vintage Crosley air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And who would doubt that a fabulous vintage Curtis air conditioner would be a desirable artifact.
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I think a remarkable vintage Dayton air conditioner might be highly coveted. And, a marvelous vintage De La Vergne air conditioner is something that would be great to find. Surely a terrific vintage Deering air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And who would doubt that a really swell vintage Delco-Frigidaire air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. I think a lovely vintage Emerson air conditioner could be quite desirable. And, a magnificent vintage Emerson Electric air conditioner might be of collectible interest.
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Surely a wonderful vintage Emerson Radio air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And who would doubt that an excellent vintage Fedders air conditioner might be highly coveted. I think a well preserved vintage Fresh'nd-Aire air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And, a fine vintage Friedrich air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? Surely a fabulous vintage Frigidaire air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And who would doubt that a remarkable vintage Gale air conditioner could be quite desirable.
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I think a marvelous vintage General Electric air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And, a terrific vintage Gibson air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. Surely a really swell vintage Gimbels air conditioner might be highly coveted. And who would doubt that a lovely vintage Governaire air conditioner is something that would be great to find. I think a magnificent vintage Harlanco air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And, a wonderful vintage Homart air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector.
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Surely an excellent vintage Hotpoint air conditioner could be quite desirable. And who would doubt that a well preserved vintage International Harvester air conditioner might be of collectible interest. I think a fine vintage Iron Fireman air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And, a fabulous vintage Johnson air conditioner might be highly coveted. Surely a remarkable vintage Kelvinator air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And who would doubt that a marvelous vintage King air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it?
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I think a terrific vintage Koolroom air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And, a really swell vintage Lonergan air conditioner could be quite desirable. Surely a lovely vintage Lenco air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And who would doubt that a magnificent vintage Leonard air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. I think a wonderful vintage Magic Chef air conditioner might be highly coveted. And, an excellent vintage Majestic air conditioner is something that would be great to find.
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Surely a well preserved vintage Manning Bowman air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And who would doubt that a fine vintage Marquette air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. I think a fabulous vintage Mathes air conditioner could be quite desirable. And, a remarkable vintage Mayflower air conditioner might be of collectible interest. Surely a marvelous vintage Mira-Cold air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And who would doubt that a terrific vintage Mitchell air conditioner might be highly coveted.
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I think a really swell vintage Mongomery Ward air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And, a lovely vintage Monitor air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? Surely a magnificent vintage Mountainaire air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And who would doubt that a wonderful vintage Mueller Climatrol air conditioner could be quite desirable. I think an excellent vintage Muntz air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And, a well preserved vintage Nomis air conditioner would be a desirable artifact.
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Surely a fine vintage Norge air conditioner might be highly coveted. And who would doubt that a fabulous vintage Northwind air conditioner is something that would be great to find. I think a remarkable vintage Pacific air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And, a marvelous vintage Packard Bell air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. Surely a terrific vintage Perfection air conditioner could be quite desirable. And who would doubt that a really swell vintage Philco air conditioner might be of collectible interest.
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I think a lovely vintage Philco-York air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And, a magnificent vintage Philharmonic air conditioner might be highly coveted. Surely a wonderful vintage Pleasantaire air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And who would doubt that an excellent vintage Quiet Cool air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? I think a well preserved vintage Quiet Kool air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And, a fine vintage RCA air conditioner could be quite desirable.
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Surely a fabulous vintage RCA Whirlpool air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And who would doubt that a remarkable vintage Remington air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. I think a marvelous vintage Rheem air conditioner might be highly coveted. And, a terrific vintage Robbins & Myers air conditioner is something that would be great to find. Surely a really swell vintage Sears-Roebuck air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And who would doubt that a lovely vintage Servel air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector.
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I think a magnificent vintage Standard air conditioner could be quite desirable. And, a wonderful vintage Sub-Zero air conditioner might be of collectible interest. Surely an excellent vintage Supre-Macy air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And who would doubt that a well preserved vintage Thorne air conditioner might be highly coveted. I think a fine vintage Tru-Cold air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And, a fabulous vintage Universal air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it?
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Surely a remarkable vintage USairco air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. And who would doubt that a marvelous vintage Victor air conditioner could be quite desirable. I think a terrific vintage Vikimatic air conditioner might be of collectible interest. And, a really swell vintage Viking air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. Surely a lovely vintage Vornado air conditioner might be highly coveted. And who would doubt that a magnificent vintage Wardaire air conditioner is something that would be great to find.
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I think a wonderful vintage Weatherking air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? And, an excellent vintage Welbilt air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector. Surely a well preserved vintage Westinghouse air conditioner could be quite desirable. And who would doubt that a fine vintage Whirlpool air conditioner might be of collectible interest. I think a fabulous vintage Winkler air conditioner would be a desirable artifact. And, a remarkable vintage Wizard air conditioner might be highly coveted.
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Surely a marvelous vintage Worthington air conditioner is something that would be great to find. And who would doubt that a terrific vintage York air conditioner may be out there somewhere. Wouldn't it just make your day to find it? I think a really swell vintage Yorkaire air conditioner would be a lucky find for any collector.
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That's the end of our search engine bait section. There are about 100 names, probably 90 even if you exclude minor variations. Some may be just a brand name that one distributing company slapped on machines made for it by another, and some are just store brands, but that counts. They do all seem to be names the machines were advertised and/or sold to consumers under, before 1960.
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