passatdoc
Well-known member
I was about six when my grandparents visited us in California, from their home in New York City. My grandmother was helping my mother prepare breakfast when she handed me the butter dish and asked, "Please put this back in the Frigidaire".
I was able to read and knew that our refrigerator was a General Electric. However, I was taught to obey commands from parents and grandparents and did what she asked without any questions. Still, it struck me as odd that over the years, my grandparents referred to ANY refrigerator, regardless of manufacturer, as "a frigidaire". They had transformed the brand name into a common noun. (at least they didn't call it an icebox...)
Now that I know more about appliance history, I know that Frigidaire produced one of the first (if not THE first) electric, non-built-in, freestanding refrigerators on the US market (the website claims they were THE first). So I wonder if my now-deceased grandparents, who were young adults when freestanding home refrigerators were introduced, used Frigidaire as a proper noun because it was the only brand available when it hit the market?
My father did the same grammatic twist with our first garbage disposal, installed early 1962 when Mom remodelled our 1930s kitchen and added a KA dishwasher, built-in Frigidaire ovens, and an electric cooktop (don't remember the brand). Instead of calling it a "disposal", with accent on the second syllable, he said "dispose-all" with accent on the third syllable. Never understood why until looking at ads on this site which showed some very early "Electric sinks" (dishwasher plus disposal in a 40" sink replacement unit), and the GE version was called the "Dispose-all". I don't know if GE was the very first, but their choice of model name must have had very high market penetration for my father to call any disposal a "dispose-all".
As a physician, I see this happen sometimes with medical devices. One of the first widespread glucose meters on the market (mid to late 1980s) was The Glucometer. Many physicians still refer to any brand of meter as a glucometer, unaware that this was a brand name. The proper term is "glucose meter". When I have to write an Rx for the meter strips for a patient, I always write it generically "glucose meter strips" so I don't box the pharmacist into a corner with the wrong brand name (I would have to reissue a script in that case).
I was able to read and knew that our refrigerator was a General Electric. However, I was taught to obey commands from parents and grandparents and did what she asked without any questions. Still, it struck me as odd that over the years, my grandparents referred to ANY refrigerator, regardless of manufacturer, as "a frigidaire". They had transformed the brand name into a common noun. (at least they didn't call it an icebox...)
Now that I know more about appliance history, I know that Frigidaire produced one of the first (if not THE first) electric, non-built-in, freestanding refrigerators on the US market (the website claims they were THE first). So I wonder if my now-deceased grandparents, who were young adults when freestanding home refrigerators were introduced, used Frigidaire as a proper noun because it was the only brand available when it hit the market?
My father did the same grammatic twist with our first garbage disposal, installed early 1962 when Mom remodelled our 1930s kitchen and added a KA dishwasher, built-in Frigidaire ovens, and an electric cooktop (don't remember the brand). Instead of calling it a "disposal", with accent on the second syllable, he said "dispose-all" with accent on the third syllable. Never understood why until looking at ads on this site which showed some very early "Electric sinks" (dishwasher plus disposal in a 40" sink replacement unit), and the GE version was called the "Dispose-all". I don't know if GE was the very first, but their choice of model name must have had very high market penetration for my father to call any disposal a "dispose-all".
As a physician, I see this happen sometimes with medical devices. One of the first widespread glucose meters on the market (mid to late 1980s) was The Glucometer. Many physicians still refer to any brand of meter as a glucometer, unaware that this was a brand name. The proper term is "glucose meter". When I have to write an Rx for the meter strips for a patient, I always write it generically "glucose meter strips" so I don't box the pharmacist into a corner with the wrong brand name (I would have to reissue a script in that case).
