History Lesson: Servel Inc.


Photographer: Kaufmann & Fabry, Inc.

Servel Inc.

An unidentified Servel worker demonstrates how the company's new refrigerators were made. After the World War II ended, Servel's rapid transition to peacetime production created unprecedented economic growth in Evansville. By 1947, the company's payroll reached a record 7,500 as workers in expanded facilities assembled appliances around the clock. In the following year, the 3 millionth refrigerator rolled off the production lines, sporting a separate new compartment that the company bragged would "hold almost a bushel of frozen foods." Within the next decade, however, the changing labor climate led Servel to sell its appliance division to Whirlpool, Inc.