Imagine Having a Refrigerator… That Didn’t Need Electricity!

Today, we open the fridge, grab the milk and hardly give a thought to the electricity quietly keeping everything cold.

But for many Australians living on remote farms, stations and properties, mains electricity simply wasn't available.

So how did you keep food cool?

There were ice chests, regular deliveries of ice and ingenious inventions such as the Coolgardie safe.

Then came something rather remarkable…

The kerosene refrigerator!

Unlike a conventional electric refrigerator, these appliances didn't rely on an electric motor driving a compressor.

Instead, heat from a kerosene burner powered an absorption refrigeration system, allowing the refrigerator to produce cold without being connected to mains electricity.

Kerosene flame

Absorption refrigeration

Cold cabinet

Chilled food!

One of Australia's best-known pioneers was Edward Hallstrom.

After reading about refrigeration, Hallstrom studied refrigeration patents and experimented in a makeshift laboratory in his backyard at Dee Why, Sydney.

He quickly recognised the potential for kerosene-powered refrigeration on outback stations that still relied on the humble Coolgardie safe.

In 1928, he produced his first Icy Ball — a chest-style absorption refrigerator powered by kerosene and sold the machines himself in the outback.

But here's where our Queensland connection gets really interesting…

In Brisbane, Lowther Charles Hope turned his attention to domestic refrigeration.

By 1939, with the help of a European designer, Hope was producing a kerosene-powered, air-cooled absorption refrigerator.

Then came World War II.

Manufacturing was interrupted while Hope's Brisbane factory was used to service American military vehicles. After the war, production of the Charles Hope Cold Flame refrigerator resumed in 1946.

And by 1953, Hope had supplied refrigerators to more than 100,000 households.

These weren't simply sold in Queensland.

They were made right here in Brisbane.

Museum Victoria's surviving Cold Flame documentation identifies the manufacturer as Charles Hope Ltd, 21 Wandoo Street, The Valley, Brisbane.

Imagine having one of these on a Queensland property without mains electricity.

You could keep food and perishables cold without relying entirely on ice — a major advantage for people living far from established electricity networks.

But there was a downside.

That kerosene flame also meant there was a potential fire hazard.

In Queensland Parliament in 1958, a member reported that 974 fires had occurred in the Brisbane metropolitan area during 1957–58. Of those, 26 were probably caused by refrigerator units.

Most of those 26 were attributed to old-type kerosene refrigerators or older refrigerators using open-type electric motors.

So the kerosene refrigerator was a fascinating piece of Australian technology.

It helped bring refrigeration to places where mains electricity wasn't readily available — but it also came with its own risks and maintenance requirements.

As electricity networks expanded and electric refrigerators became increasingly practical, kerosene refrigerators gradually disappeared from Australian homes, stations and remote properties.

But for decades, that little flame helped keep Australia's food cold.

And here in Queensland, one of the companies producing these remarkable machines was doing it right in Brisbane.

Did your family ever have a Cold Flame — or another kerosene refrigerator?

Maybe you remember one sitting in the kitchen, on the veranda or out at the family property?

We'd love to hear your stories!

Sources: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Museum Victoria, Queensland Parliament Hansard, 28 October 1958

Refrigerator Images: CC BY Photographer: Charlotte Smith Museums Victoria https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/245482

B&W Image: Workers in front of Charles Hopes factory, Wandoo Street, Fortitude Valley ca. 1937-1938 - Public Domain