TAG Industrial Watch: February 22, 2025
Frederick McKinley Jones was a WWI veteran whose contributions helped pave the way for today’s cold storage industry. Born in Covington, Kentucky on May 17, 1893, Jones earned the nicknames “Father of Refrigerated Transportation” and “King of Cool” for his work in mobile refrigeration technology. Jones began his career as an inventor in the cinema industry in Minneapolis, Minnesota, working for local entrepreneur Joseph A. Numero to convert silent movie projectors into audiovisual projectors. Prior to WWII, at Numero’s request, Jones developed the Thermo Control Model A automatic truck refrigeration unit to keep perishable foods from spoiling during transportation. During WWII, Jones’ innovation became pivotal for preserving blood, medicine, and food for use at army hospitals and on open battlefields.
The success led Numero to sell his cinema business to RCA and form the U.S. Thermo Control Company (later named Thermo King Corporation) in partnership with Jones. After the war, Jones continued to improve his models for automatic refrigeration systems for long-haul trucks, helping to make Thermo King Corporation a $3 million business by 1949. With refrigerated transportation technology in place, the cold storage distribution and logistics industry slowly emerged. By the time of his death on February 21, 1961, Frederick McKinley Jones received 61 patents, including 40 for refrigeration technology. Jones was awarded the National Medal of Technology and an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame (Wikipedia).
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