Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 2031
“Eddy and Sons made Refrigerators in Dorchester for 70 Years.” By Anthony Sammarco. September 24, 1993.
Few of us in Dorchester are without a refrigerator in the kitchen, and as last summers’ heat waves rolled in we were especially thankful for its intended purpose. However few of know that in 147 Darius Eddy of Dorchester established “The Eddy Refrigerator” in King Square, Dorchester.
Darius Eddy recognized that people needed refrigeration to cool food and preserve it for use after it has been bought in the market. An enterprising businessman, he established his company on Gibson Street near Fields Corner to produce ice chests, or wooden boxes with metal linings that held ice to keep food cool.
Crafting his “refrigerators” from fine quality wood and lining the sides with slate, Eddy sold these popular cooling units throughout New England. The demand proved great, and though the original factory was destroyed by fire in 1872, Eddy built a new and more modern facility not from the corner of Adams and Gibson Streets.
Eddy Refrigerators were marketed to be “dry, sweet and clean” and designed “to protect the health of the family” in the circulation of cold, fresh air through the refrigerator. With almost daily replacement of the ice block by the local iceman, food was kept for longer periods of time. The increase in productivity led to the building of warehouses for stock items and for the display of refrigerators to be sold to the public. Eventually, Eddy’s sons were to assist him in the business.
After 1872, Eddy took his sons Lewis, Isaac and George Eddy into the rapidly growing company. They maintained the use of wood for the cabinets, but by the time electricity had been invented, the newer refrigerators were electrified. The Eddys maintained the old method of production, which required daily replacement of ice.
Eventually, Darius Eddy & Sons, marketing their refrigerators as “absolutely the best” on the market, could no longer compete with the larger and more efficient factories that produced electric refrigerators. The firm ceased to exist after World War I, and the factory was sold to Andrews & Goodrich. However, many Eddy-produced “ice chests” still exist and can attest to the quality workmanship of a refrigerator company established almost a century and a half ago in Dorchester.
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