brightly colored cobalt blue c. 1930's original porcelain or vitreous enameled die cut steel general electric brand refrigerators advertising sign. the rectangular-shaped exterior sign was likely mounted on the facade of a downtown storefront that carried name brand appliances for the home. discoloration and surface wear evident. the steel grommets are partially intact. the exact sign fabricator is no known. general electric was the first refrigerator maker, marketing in 1911 a wooden model invented in france by a french monk, abb marcel audiffren. called the "audiffren", it sold for a thousand dollars - twice the cost of a car at the time. spurred by world war i, the first successful us-made refrigerator to enter full scale production was the "kelvinator" after lord kelvin, the father of thermodynamics. introduced in 1918, it was made of wood, and resembled a small bedroom night stand, with a single door. in 1927, general electric invented the first monitor top refrigerator; a hermetically sealed unit with the ge-invented all-steel cabinet, which at the time, only came in a white finish. it was known as the monitor-top because the condenser was on top of the refrigerator in a separate enclosure that looked like the turret from the u.s.s. monitor - the famous ironclad ship from the civil war. these refrigerator units were produced from 1927-1937 and became a universally recognized icon. the queen anne legs were not compatible with the streamlined era, so the "monitor-top" underwent another design overhaul in 1929 with the introduction of the "kelvinator four" refrigerator, which debuted with a flat top - its cabinet and compressor were cleanly encased in a simple white metal box. it set the design type form for home refrigerators for the rest of the century. measures approximately 26 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches.