A/C in _The Seven Year Itch_

[kenmore71]

The Seven Year Itch was on TV last night. I hadn't seen it in YEARS and had forgotten that the central plot revolves around air conditioning in 1955 New York.

 

Does anyone know what the air conditioner in the apartment was? I cannot identify it from any of my stash of ads and brochures from the era. It was blue and appears to have an all metal cabinet.  Here's a BW picture of the inside face of the unit.

 

[cycla-fabric]

Maybe Welbilt

Maybe a vintage Welbilt ac unit.

Doug

 

[kenmore71]

Interesting. That is a company I have never heard of until now.

 

[danemodsandy]

Welbilt:

When I PM'd you to respond to your original question to me, I forgot about Welbilt. That name is also the correct number of letters for the name on the A/C unit.

As I mentioned to you, I cannot get over the extremely fancy installation of the unit - set designer Lyle Wheeler had it built into the center of a bay unit with small panes in the center, and French doors on either side. What Wheeler designed was a panel set into the middle of the center window, with the window mullions connected to the panel, and two panes custom-cut into "L"-shapes. It's a very far cry from the usual utilitarian window installation seen in real life!

While the exterior of the building seen was real, shot on location in NYC (164 East 61st), the interiors were on a soundstage in Hollywood (sidebar: They tried to shoot the famous "skirt-blowing" scene on location, but the crowd that gathered made so much noise, roaring when Monroe's skirt blew up, that the footage couldn't be used. A set matching the location had to be built on the backlot for a reshoot *). The apartment building is still there, but it's painted white now and the shutters are gone.

Obviously, this was very photogenic and glamorous, which was pretty much the whole point of a 20th Century-Fox romantic comedy in 1955. Here's a color screen grab of the same shot replicated for the still photo above:

* Also, Monroe's husband of the time, Joe DiMaggio, witnessed the location shoot of the "skirt-blowing." The crowd's lustful roar - to say nothing of how his wife worked the crowd to provoke it - jolted Joe so much he set things in motion to end the marriage.

 

[rp2813]

I think modern day Welbilt isn't such a great brand, but just recently, perhaps in the 20" stove thread, there was a nice vintage Welbilt pictured.

 

I have to laugh at how that AC is installed smack in the middle of those window panes -- or does the unit go all the way to the floor?

 

[danemodsandy]

Ralph:

You can't really see it well in the photos, but under the A/C unit, there's a fancy wood panel that extends to the floor. Very, very tricky carpentry! I figure the carpentry and glass work probably cost more than the A/C unit, even in 1955 when the movie was shot. And they were hardly giving A/C units away at the time.

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S.:

My vote for the A/C brand would be Fedders. I think this is some years before injection-molded plastic louver fronts made the familiar circular-louver Fedders units feasible. Also, blowing up the black-and-white version of the photo makes it look like the first letter of the name is "F." Other possibilities that fit the number of letters (one is not easily visible due to being shaded out) would be Vornado and Carrier.

 

[whirlaway]

Looks like a Mitchell

I had a 1949 Mitchell for years,looks alot like it,also when he is on the patio outback it looks like a Mitchell case,on the outside.As I recall in the movie Iwas surprised at the end,I think she is looking out of the window,at how many window units you saw in the background.AC was starting to become like an automatic washer,you cant live with out them by 1955!

 

[norgeway]

Mitchell!

Fedders was distinctive in that it had the big round wheel vent.

 

[davey7]

F is for Fox?

Perhaps it's a studio mock-up?

 

[philr]

It's an Emerson:

 



http://https//www.flickr.com/photos/aircondman/8334263431/

 

[philr]

And BTW, for those who like vintage air conditioners, Ken (who posted the photo from my previous post on Flickr) also has a very interesting blog on Tumblr:

 

<span style="font-size: 18pt;">http://air-conditioner-man.tumblr.com/</span>

 

[cuffs054]

Ken, great work! I have always been interested in HVAC stuff and some of the units you show are neat. Phil thanks for putting the blog on.

 

[danemodsandy]

AHA!

Well, that makes sense - "Emerson" is also the right number of letters in the name, and the blurry enlargement I did was very hard to read, so I interpreted an "E" as an "F."

Interestingly, if you'll look very closely at the first photo in this thread, you'll see that the Emerson logo has been removed from the louver on the far left. This was doubtless to minimize visual distraction - Hollywood used to do that all the time.

Well done to those who identified the unit!

 

[danemodsandy]

More Info?

I did some more Googling, and came up with this cover shot of an Emerson service manual. One of the units on its cover looks very similar to the Seven Year Itch machine, with a small trim difference on the vent knobs.

Anyway, the photo says it's a Super Custom model. So, it appears we have a 1955 Emerson Super Custom air conditioner.

Bobby whirlaway mentioned some surprise at the number of air conditioners seen in the patio sequence, because it was, after all, 1955. There would have been a reason for that - the real building used for exterior shots was at East 61st and Lexington. That was and is a very expensive part of Manhattan. Most middle-class folks didn't get A/C until the '60s, but Noo Yawkuhs in ritzy nabes were evidently able to afford it way before the rest of us.

 

[philr]

Many years ago, a friend of mine had the "super compact" model like the one above. I've never seen another like it since. Window air conditioners were not common at all around here back in the mid-1950s, almost 400 miles north of Manhattan! 

 

[danemodsandy]

One More:

I went back to the original of the first photo that Mark posted; it's pretty large to begin with. I then blew it way up, and took a detail of the A/C unit from it.

You can now see clearly what I mentioned earlier; the louver on the far left has had the Emerson logo removed - you can see the little hole it left.

They used to be very careful about distracting details in movies.

 

[a440]

Emerson

I worked part time during high school in the evenings at a data process business.  We processed most of the checks from the local banks.  We entered in all of the information from the bottom of the checks by hand.  I was super fast.  

This was the third floor of a very old brick building.  My floor had one of these Emerson units.  It was very cool! VERY!  This unit had ICE COLD AIR!   You could not stand in front of it for very long.  Unbelievable cold air!  It was actually a very quiet unit with a rhythm to it when the compressor would kick on.  I took it for granted because I thought all old building had this type of unit in it.  

I would however pick the farthest desk from this unit because the air was so cold!  Bone chilling!

On very humid days in New Orleans the air would actually come out in a fog.  I thought all A/C's worked like this.  

 

 

[kenmore71]

Nice work, Sandy! I didn't mean to create such a stir, but was simply curious. The ultimate conclusion of Emerson is fascinating. In my personal experience about 50% of Manhattan AC units are Friedrich.

 

BTW, I am hoping to come Waterloo way the few days before the new year dawns. I'll keep in touch...

 

[philr]

Ken says this unit is a 1954 Custom, not a 1955 Super Custom. It makes sense since the movie was filmed between September 1954 and January 1955!

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048605/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus

 

[danemodsandy]

Mark:

These "stirs" are what set us to digging and researching, with the result that a little more information is found, so that we can all learn from it. So, ya done good by starting this thread.

The objects seen on the sets of movies used to be selected very carefully, to help further the story. This was an expensive air conditioner - suitable to the setting of the story - and it was a large-capacity air conditioner - needed to cool the large area of the apartment. While the average 1955 moviegoer would not have known one A/C unit from another, movie studios used to be very careful to "cast" objects correctly, so that even the very few audience members familiar with Emerson's line of air conditioners could not say something like: "I sell those things, and that model could never cool an apartment that size!" Much less care is taken today, as our recent Mad Men thread points out.

I'll hope to hear from you while you're in town - look forward to seeing you again!

 

[circlew]

The first window air conditioner I remember seeing belonged to my dad's aunt & uncle. It was a Friedrich, and stuck out well over 2' on the outside. It had steel supports angling up from the wall to support the unit, and filled nearly the entire lower part of the window. What it weighed I don't know, but had to be extremely heavy. It operated on 240V, and produced very cold air. It was not new even when I was a toddler, and I think I remember Uncle Fred saying they bought it in 1949. They were probably the first ones in town to have any air conditioning. They used the unit until sometime circa 1972, when they had central air installed.

My Aunt Doris was the first I remember with central air, which came with their new 1957 house in Long Beach, MS. She always had central air in every house from then on.

We got the first window unit in our house around 1961, and it was a used Mitchell. It would put out some cold air, but blew fuses a lot if anything else was on the same circuit.

 

[frigilux]

Only at AW: A photo of Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe and we're taken with the A/C unit!

Yet another classic example of why I love this website.

 

[toploader55]

PhilR

Thanks for that great link to those A/C archives.

Great Thread.

 

[norgeway]

Emerson!!

Glad the mystery is solved...it does look Mitchelesque though!!LOL...One thing is for sure, those old ACs really did cool...unlike todays window units they blew out bone chilling icy air!

 

[crevicetool]

yeah, yeah, yeah...

1955,
cold air,
Marilyn Monroe,
"casting" objects,
Mad Men
Waterloo...blah, blah, blah...

Am I the only one seein' that big honkin' black knob on the left side of the Emerson that ain't in any pictures heretofore presented other than the movie stills?

What the heck is that for?

Hmmmm?

 

[danemodsandy]

Rick:

I've also been wondering about it, but I haven't found a clear shot that explains it.

It appears that it might be a louver adjustment knob - the sort of thing that you loosen to move the louvers to a desired position, and then re-tighten to lock them into place.

Since Ken has said this is an earlier unit than any we've found pictures of that weren't connected to the movie, it could have features not seen on those other photos.

By the way, am I the only one laughing at that window installation? The weight of the unit would put a huge strain on the mullions and glass, and the vibration would likely shake the whole thing apart in not too much time. Of course, the unit seen in the movie didn't actually have to operate, just blow air, which meant the real-life headaches inherent in such an installation weren't a worry.

But even braced from outside where it wouldn't be visible in these shots, that installation would have some real problems, seems to me.

 

[KenHoran]

'Seven Year Itch' air conditioners

PhilR advised me about this thread so I thought I'd respond. The window air conditioner shown in the living room set of 'The Seven Year Itch' (1955) is indeed a 1954 Emerson 'Custom' series room air conditioner. I've attached a frame capture showing the unit from the outside. The knob on the side of the interior cabinet is fake and was put there by the studio prop department to make it easier to see Tom Ewell switch the unit on. The unit was actually switched on by a technician off camera. It would not be very visual for Tom Ewell to open the control panel door and push the correct button to switch the unit on. The Emerson trademark on the control panel door was probably removed by accident by the studio grips handling the unit. The other window air conditioners in the story, one in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen were 1954 Emerson 'Compact' series room air conditioners. In the attached photo of the 1954 Emerson 'Compact' unit in the kitchen you can plainly see the Emerson trademark in the lower right hand corner of the interior cabinet. I've also attached a photo showing the 1954 Emerson 'Compact' unit from the outside with Marilyn leaning over it.

http://air-conditioner-man.tumblr.com

 

[kenmore71]

Ken, welcome to AW.org!

 

Thanks for taking time to respond to this post!

 

The signal-to-noise ratio on this forum varies, but in the end the serious collector and/or enthusiast is almost ALWAYS rewarded by the wealth of information that others share out of TRUE passion for their interests and hobbies!

 

Thanks again!

 

[petek]

Thanks Ken... enjoyed your page as well. Do you happen to have any of those split Heat Controller units. I lent mine out a few years ago to a family member and never got it back.. hoping one will cross my path again.