Ralph
Right about the coil on GE being a hindrance. After getting into old appliances and seeing the different configurations of the fresh food coil on different brands I've always wondered why GE mounted theirs that way. It definitely limits the height of items that can be placed on the top shelf.
Philco mounted the coil vertically on the back of the compartment covered by a solid plate. Actually the coil was fastened to the plate. Hotpoint mounted the same way sans the plate. Kelvinator and I believe Westinghouse mounted it flat at the top of the compartment covered by a pan. Not familiar with Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Amana, Crosley or the many other makes I cant think of right now.
Considering GE had owned Hotpoint for many years by that point they had to see how mounting vertically at the back freed up a lot of top space. The same trough GE's already used to catch the defrost water would have worked just the same for a vertical mounted coil.