Kelvinator was founded in Detroit in 1916 after previously operating as the Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Company. Nathaniel B. Wales (1883-1974) was the founding engineer, and he had been developing home refrigeration units. He received financial backing from automobile executive Arnold H. Goss. The company name was an ode to the British physicist who developed the absolute temperature scale that also bears his name, Lord Kelvin. By 1923, Kelvinator had the lion’s share of the electric refrigerator market at eighty percent. In the 1920s, Kelvinator acquired both Leonard Refrigerator Company and Nizer Corporation. In 1937 it merged with Nash Motor Company and became a division of Nash-Kelvinator. The company expanded into other household appliances like hot water heaters, room air conditioners, and electric ranges. In 1968, Kelvinator was purchased by White Consolidated Industries, which in turn was purchased by A. B. Electrolux in 1986.