75 year old fridge still going strong - a contender for the title of the oldest continuously-working refrigerator

A seventy five year old fridge is still keeping food cold, making it one of the oldest working household appliances in the country. It was the era of the Great Depression, a decade of austerity when household finances were stretched. So when the Kinghorn family bought a brand new refrigerator in 1936 they hoped it would prove a good investment.

They would never have imagined that three quarters of a century later, with the nation again facing tough economic times, the fridge would still be working as well as ever.

The Frigidaire - a 1935 model - is now a contender for the title of the oldest continuously-working refrigerator in the country. It has never needed repairs apart from the occasional replacement part. It takes pride of place in the kitchen of Rosemary Kinghorn, who inherited the appliance when her mother-in-law, the original owner, died in 1957.

The 79-year-old said it had not had any maintenance for over 30 years, when her husband last replaced one of the parts.

"My family keep telling me that I should get a new, modern one but I think 'why should I'?" she said.

"This one is still going strong. It still keeps the food cold."

Mrs Kinghorn, of Marchmont, Edinburgh, said the refrigerator was one of the last to be built without a light, but served as a reminder of an era in which things were built to last.

"A friend of mine had the same model and decided to give it away about 20 years ago. I remember she told me once that since then she had bought two new fridges and had been told that the one she had given away was still working.

"She wishes she had never given it away."

Mrs Kinghorn said she was astounded at the number and volume of different products that are now available to the average consumer, and the ease with which goods are discarded.

"When I grew up we were told to make do and mend. My mother used to embroider little flowers over the hole if our clothes became moth-eaten.

"Now people just throw away clothes when they get tired of them. I think people of my generation will always find that curious."

The fridge is not Britain's oldest working fridge, however. That title goes to a 92-year-old Frigidaire, made by General Motors, owned by Ian Pasley-Tyler and his wife Susie, from Gilsborough, Northhamptonshire.


/Telegraph.co.uk/