The 1st Automobile A/C System

The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram,
and Max, invented and developed the first automobile
air-conditioner. On July 17, 1946, the temperature in
Detroit was 97 degrees.

The four brothers walked into old man Henry
Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into
telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most
exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric
starter.

Henry was curious and invited them into his office.
They refused and instead asked that he come out to the
parking lot to their car.

They persuaded him to get into the car, which was
about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled
the car off immediately.

The old man got very excited and invited them back to
the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.

The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million,
but they wanted the recognition by having a label,
'The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,' on the dashboard of
each car in which it was installed.

Now old man Ford was more than just a little
anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the
Goldberg's name on two million Fords.

They haggled back and forth for about two hours, and
finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names
would be shown.

And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show
Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max on the controls.

So, now you know...