A Midwest Favorite: Air Conditioning

 

Willis Carrier (1876-1950) was an American engineer, best known for inventing modern air conditioning in 1902. In 1915, Carrier and six other engineers pooled over $32,000 to form the Carrier Engineering Corporation. In 1920, they purchased their first factory in Newark, New Jersey. The corporation bearing his name marketed its air conditioner to the residential market in the 1950s. Carrier merged with Affiliated Gas Equipment, Inc. in 1955. Carrier Corporation was acquired by United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in July 1979. At the turn of the 21st Century, Carrier was the world's largest manufacturer of air-conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment. In 2020, United Technologies announced that it would spin off UTC Climate, Controls & Security as an independent company known as Carrier Global Corporation.

Frozen Foods And Mountain Fever

 

Clarence Frank Birdseye II conducted experiments and received patents for the development of greatly improved methods to freeze fish for commercial production. In 1922, he formed a company, Birdseye Seafood, Inc. In 1924, he developed an entirely new process for commercially viable quick-freezing: packing fish in cartons, then freezing the contents between two refrigerated surfaces under pressure. Birdseye created a new company, General Seafood Corporation, to promote this method. Birdseye sold his company in 1929 and his patents for $22 million to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company, becoming General Foods Corporation, which founded the Birds Eye Frozen Food Company. Today, Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot Australia in Australia.

Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry. One of nine children, Birdseye grew up in Brooklyn before heading to Amherst College and began his scientific career with the U.S. government. By the end of his life, Birdseye had patented more than 300 inventions, many of them food-related but he is also is credited with the discovery of how Rocky Mountain Fever is transmitted.