John Heinrich Pfingston Family Line
Servel Refrigerators and the Pfingston Brothers Three
Orville "Ellwood" Pfingston (1906-1986)
Harry Edward Pfingston (1911-1987)
William "Owen" Pfingston (1914-1970)
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by Carolyn Ann Howard
Servel may not now - 67 years later - be such a well-known word here in Evansville, Indiana. However, in 1957, it was a household name. Servel, short for "Serve Electrically," was a refrigerator factory that, in 1953, employed 14,000 people in the greater Evansville, Indiana area. It's demise in 1957 brought this city to the brink of despair and beyond. About the same time other factories also left town, including Chrysler Corporation, International Harvester, Cook's Brewery, and Atlas Laundry. [1]Originally begun as The Brighton Buggy Company out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Colonel William McCurdy brought the company to Evansville in 1902 and changed its name to Hercules Buggy Works. This factory was responsible for buggies and wagons, as its name suggests. As technology advanced, it changed its focus to making auto and truck bodies. [2] At the same time, The Electrolux Company was working on gas absorption refrigerator technology. In 1925, Servel purchased Hercules Buggy Works after McCurdy's health had begun to fail. They then purchased the patent for the Electrolux Gas Absorption Refrigerator and began production. This was in 1926. [3] (Click on photos to enlarge.)
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Hercules Buggy Company
Courtesy Historic Evansville |
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Hercules Buggy Company
Courtesy USI Collections
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Men outside Servel c1930
Courtesy of Willard Library |
Purchasing a refrigerator in 1926 was quite a bit different than it is today. According to Pete Ruthenburg, grandson of Servel's president Louis Ruthenburg, "The old SIGECO [Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company] had a showroom downtown in the Hulman Building, and you could go pick out a fridge, and they would install and hook it up
to gas." According to Ruthenburg, the fridges were very heavy and weren't so easy to move into your house and have it hooked up. [4] The refrigerator had no moving parts and was so unlikely to break down that it came with a 10-year warranty. Later Servel products included electric refrigerators, gas water heaters, gas air conditioners, and automatic ice makers. [5]
It was into this industry that at least five of my granduncles and one grandaunt made their living: Homer Pfingston, Tom McLean, Charlene VanHooser, and the Pfingston brothers: Ellwood, Harry and Owen. The latter three were born on a farm in Henderson County, Kentucky, in what was called, on the census, Scuffletown Precinct. Scuffletown is a ghost town that was located on the Ohio River. It was a layover spot for “riverboat men” who worked on the barges. You can read more about that subject here. (Opens in a new window.) These three boys were born to my great-grandfather Ed “Pop” Pfingston, who worked quite a large farm operation in rural Scuffletown, and my great-grandmother Flora “Mom” Vogt. Ed and Flora were second cousins. Read more about Ed here. (Opens in a new window.)
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Harry is on the left and Ellwood is on the right
That is possibly my mother sitting in the window
Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection
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In the 1930 census, my great grandparents were living on their farm in Scuffletown along with their son, Owen. The two other boys, Ellwood and Harry, are absent from any 1930 census that I could find nationally using all search engines, including Family Search and Ancestry. However, by 1931, according to the Evansville City Directory, they were living in the famous Pfingston home at 505 N. Weinbach in Evansville, Indiana. The rest of the family - their parents (Mom and Pop) and their brother Owen - would soon follow, along with their brother-in-law, Tom McLean. The four boys would all become employees of Servel Refrigeration. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
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505 N. Weinbach Ave Present Day
Pictures taken from road or sidewalk
Carolyn Ann Howard |
Servel offered much more security for these young men than farming. Along with security, however, Servel was more than just a job; it was a community. In 1934, Servel offered their 5700 employees many opportunities, such as membership in Toastmasters International, opportunities to play sports on their bowling and baseball teams, or to be a part of their gun club. They also had a stamp club and groups that played different card games together. Some of the employees put on a minstrel show each year, which evidently was a very good show. These were held in the auditorium of Bosse High School. The company had parades and held family picnics at their field, located on "Outer Pollack Avenue." They also had yearly Christmas and New Year's Eve parties for their employees and their families. [6] An interesting side note, I lived for 8 years on Pollack Avenue, and so did many of my Pfingston and Caze ancestors during their lifetimes.
The oldest boy, Ellwood, seemed to be the most pragmatic and, interestingly, I was told that Ellwood did not drink. Those of you familiar with my stories, particularly those about my late mother, know her aversion to alcohol. Somehow she had been affected by her uncles, Harry and Owen, in that they had been drinkers, not to mention the amount of drinking that went on with the riverboat men in Scuffletown, where she grew up. I believe my mother herself was fearful of becoming an alcoholic. Being a strict Baptist pastor's wife took that possibility away, but she did get addicted to prescription diet pills in her younger years, thanks to her physician. She later became addicted to prescription pain medicine. That is to say, addiction runs deep in our family.
Harry was an avid baseball player who had once tried out for the professional leagues and, as an employee of Servel, was the team manager on one of the Servel leagues. As one who is not good with sports, except for perhaps track... perhaps... I was unaware that so many of my relatives were and are actually very good ball players. In a discussion with relatives, it appears that what held Harry back from the professional leagues was money. He just didn't have enough to pay his way in. He continued to play ball into his adult years, even as a left fielder on a team of his own making called "Pfingston," as well as playing on several different leagues in the area. [7]
Owen must have been the real character of the three. In his photographs, he just looks funny. From what I understand, the hoots and hollers began anytime these three were together. From my own experiences growing up in this family, I understand, though, that it was a difficult family to become a part of. They frequently made fun of others, most likely not understanding how hard that was on some, especially since they also mercilessly made fun of each other without seemingly any hurt feelings. Owen and Harry both were also extremely gifted as Servel employees and made great contributions to the company, Owen as a machine operator and Harry as a foreman. Ellwood also was a machine operator.
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Uncle Owen carving a turkey
Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection |
Ellwood married Mary Fetter Dremstedt, a widow with two young children, in 1935. After their honeymoon, the now Mrs. Mary Pfingston and her children moved in with the rest of the family at 505 N. Weinbach. This was customary at that time. Harry married Martha “Charlene” Van Hooser in 1940. She was also a Servel employee at the time of their marriage, and they also joined the family at 505 N. Weinbach. Lastly, Owen married Alyce Willingham in 1939. After their honeymoon, they moved in with her parents two doors down at 501 N. Weinbach. My mother talked frequently about Alyce, but I don't remember why or even what the mentions of her were about, unfortunately. I honestly think Mom just wanted to go see her and Owen after they moved to California. My dad did not like traveling, so no trip ever materialized. Interestingly, Dad did love taking drives around town, in his retirement years, just so long as he was home in time for dinner.
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Pop Pfingston (middle) with whom we believe to be
Aunt Charlene (L) and Aunt Alyce (R)
Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection |
The president of Servel Refrigeration was Louis Ruthenburg. Servel brass had recruited Ruthenburg from Dayton, Ohio, where he worked for Delco. Ruthenburg was a pioneer in the car industry, having been part of a group of men that jumpstarted the gasoline engine. According to an article in The Evansville Press, Ed Klinger writes, "Ruthenburg was confronted by a ramshackle operation developed from a buggy and gas engine plant." Furthermore, the country was in the grips of the Great Depression. Ruthenburg did the extraordinary. He called together all the industrial leaders of Evansville and told them, with their approval, he would give raises to all his workers and pretend as if there were no Depression at all. They approved, and therefore, Evansville saw record growth during that time period. [8]
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Louis Ruthenburg
Courtesy USI Collections |
Servel was the marvel of the modern world. Servel Electrolux refrigerators had impressive displays at both the San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition in February, 1939 as well as The New York World's Fair. At the New York exhibit, a gas-only model home was on display, complete with the Servel refrigerator. The display, according to the organizers, would “set many new standards for home arrangement, decoration and convenience.” [9]
Overshadowing these successes though, especially for Ruthenburg, who was staunchly anti-union, was that some Servel employees were trying to form a union. Under no circumstances was Ruthenburg going to let a union come for his company. His first act to try to head all this off was to form his own type of union within Servel called “The Servel Worker's Counsel.” He also tried various other tactics, making lists and taking pictures of those who were pro-union, posting them so that “everyone would know just who had caused the trouble.” He fired people who were pro-union and had pamphlets made and distributed to his employees hyping up the Servel Worker's Counsel. Because of this, Servel was sued by the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Worker's Union. On March 27, 1939, the decision came down from the National Labor Relations Board. Servel would be required to dissolve its Worker's Counsel and rehire all those who had been fired for participating in union talk. [10] The report against Servel was quite damning. Ruthenburg, however, truly believed that unions would create labor barons that would leave workers in worse shape than before. According to grandson Pete Ruthenburg, of this time period, “It marked a change in the somewhat paternalistic management attitude to a very negative atmosphere about the union assuming a role between the workers and the company.” [11]
Ellwood had different things in mind for his family and himself other than joining a union or even working in a factory. After he married Mary, they almost immediately moved from 505 N. Weinbach to Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Although he continued to work at Servel for a time, by the 1950 census, he was listed as a farmer working his own business. He was done with Servel, building a life with his wife and children on the farm of his own making. The land that he purchased, which included the old Darnell School, remains in the Pfingston family to this day. Ellwood died in 1986.
By 1939, it appear that the company may have already been floundering a bit, just naturally, as refrigerator technology continued to advance outside of Servel. Ruthenburg, perhaps noticing this, had started vying for valuable government contracts. By December, 1940, Servel had received an order for 10,000 gasoline pressure vapor burners by the US Army Quartermaster in Jeffersonville, IN. [12] The year 1940 closed out with $22,300,000 in sales with a line of gas refrigerators for homes and apartments, kerosene refrigerators for rural homes and farms, all year gas air conditioning and heating systems, commercial gas refrigerator units, and electric refrigerators. [13]
And then the unthinkable happened. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. According to esteemed Evansville historian James Lachlan MacLeod, quoted from his book Evansville in World War II, “[Evansville] labor leaders used their national union connections; politicians called in favors and used their relationships, all the way up to the Oval Office; and businessmen used their nationwide networks. The synergy this produced was to transform the city.” [14] Ruthenburg had his hand in all this and soon, Evansville was made into a war machine of productivity with Servel as one of the leaders.
Unfortunately, that put Evansville in another bind. Word soon got out that Evansville had lots of work available and people began pouring into the city. According to long-time resident Claude "J" Wertz, "Evansville was a furniture manufacturing town until the great depression, and then it diminished and refrigeration became the principle industry. Apparently the furniture industry was staffed by local people, who by and large were German. The city overgrew itself in WW2. In 1940, Evansville was listed as 97,000 [population]. Allegedly, by 1950, the population was 150,000, or maybe that was a few years before 1950. It was a desperate situation [as far as housing]."
My great grandparents, Mom and Pop, continued to live at 505 N. Weinbach, along with Harry and his family. Owen had moved with his family to Chandler Avenue. While the men worked, with apparently quite a bit of overtime, Charlene and Alyce stayed busy taking care of their families and participating in many church activities at Central Methodist Church, located in downtown Evansville. Harry and Charlene had two children, one girl and one boy, while Owen and Alyce had one son, Gary Ray. Gary would go on to become a highly decorated Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force. In 2014, The Pfingston Reception Center at Joint Base San Antonio in Lackland Texas was so named in honor of Gary Ray. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
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Pfingston Reception Center
Courtesy JBSA Photo Gallery |
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L to R: Anna Bell Pfingston McLean
Pop Pfingston
Aunt Charlene Pfingston
Mom Pfingston
Uncle Harry Pfingston |
World War 2 changed many things in Evansville, Indiana, and across the country. Here locally, many new homes and roads were built for the influx of workers. Other families made money by renting out rooms in their homes to the workers at Servel, as well as the shipyard at Mead Johnson Terminal, the Chrysler plant, Republican Aviation, International Steel, Briggs - where my father worked briefly in the early 1950s - Hoosier Cardinal, and Faultless Caster. By 1943, Servel had grown to 12,560 employees, who were working around-the-clock making wings for the P-47 bombers, along with other war goods. [15] A friend at church told me that her late husband used to talk about how people would rent out rooms "by the hour." A person might sleep their 8 hours, then go to work, and the next person come in to sleep their 8 hours. “I doubt they changed the sheets in between!” she mused.
The war economy in Evansville was certainly something that had never been seen before but, unfortunately, it was not to last. In his book Lost Evansville, McLeod quotes local historian Jon Carl as saying, “All these factories that were making war goods quit making war goods. Literally overnight.” [16] Orders stopped coming in and existing orders were canceled. Over 10,000 Evansvillians lost their jobs overnight with many, many more to come. Servel's fate, unfortunately, was sealed.
During and after the war, particularly with the GI Bill that allowed veterans to secure low-interest financing with no money down, housing continued to move forward. This included a sweeping movement across the United States called The American Small House. The home I live in was built in 1943 by Luhring Lumber as a part of this movement, as was the road it was built on. Evansville is also home to several Lustron Homes, which were prefabricated enameled steel houses that buyers ordered and put together themselves. Two of them are located just one block away from my home!
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My American Small House
Carolyn Ann Howard |
Servel limped along as Louis Ruthenburg, who had become president in 1924, had planned to retire. Eventually, Duncan C. Menzies was brought in to try to turn the company around, with Ruthenburg's help. Pete Ruthenburg said of those times, "Those last years until 1957, when it was sold off and rationalized, were pretty discouraging and distressful times for my grandfather. He went through all that, but he particularly was noted for being brought in when Servel was previously on it's back and on the verge of failure. He made it profitable [again] during the great depression. Then he led the charge in WW2 to go to war production and then back to civilian production, but then the issues made the gas refrigerator less attractive: cost, weight, and how hard it was to hookup. Boys coming home from the war were interested in getting in housing quickly and easily." [17]
Bit by bit by bit, Servel was parceled up and sold. Bendix-Westinghouse purchased the rights to Servel's commercial refrigeration division along with two buildings of its massive complex. In 1956, Goodwill Industries bought another part of its building. Whirlpool acquired Servel's home appliance division in 1957 while ARKLA (Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company) bought its air conditioning division. [18] On December 21, 1957, Servel sent termination notices to all its existing workers. [19]
My mother and father were married in 1951, and, as a pastor who had just graduated from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY in 1955, they were living in their first parsonage when Servel went under. Mom many times talked about this, as if the closing had somehow broken up the family. Although it was devastating, to be sure, Harry and Owen were not finished with Servel. I haven't studied the California connection, but both families moved to Redondo Beach, California, to continue working for Servel. Owen retired from Douglas Air Force Base as an industrial engineer. He died in 1970 at the age of 56.
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L to R: Mom Pfingston
Anna Bell Pfingston McLean
My mother, Mary McLean Howard
Pop Pfingston
Rural Warrick County, IN 1956
Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection |
Harry moved back to Newburgh, Indiana upon his retirement, living on a lot practically in his sister Anna Bell’s backyard. My parents also later became neighbors. I was afraid of Harry, even as a young adult, so I regretfully did not know him, although his wife, Charlene, was gold. My father, in Harry's last days, sat with him a lot and prayed with him. I remember my father feeling proud that Harry confided in him during this time. Harry died November 13, 1987.
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On an October morning in 2022, everyone in Evansville woke up to plumes of dark, dark smoke rolling ominously and ferociously through the clouds. Debris from the fire was carried through the air and deposited onto the yards of the homes in my neighborhood and many others. We were cautioned not to touch, because the pieces contained asbestos. Professionals were sent through the neighborhoods to do the cleanup. The fire, as it turns out, was coming from the old Servel plant. The fire burned so hot that it could be seen on weather radar. One million-and-a-half square feet was demolished. It completely destroyed the old Servel factory. [20] To this date, no big cleanup has been done nor has a cause been given that I am aware of.
Photos of the Servel ruins 02 Oct 2024 from public roads taken by Stephanie Dawson. Click on photos to enlarge.
Many, many, many thanks to Pete Ruthenburg for allowing me to interview him for this article.
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[1] Evansville Chamber of Commerce. “'Stop Worrying and Start Digging' Is C of C’s Advice to Evansville.” Sunday Courier and Press, 13 Oct. 1957, p. 15.
[2] Feel
the History. “Servel: Making Evansville the ‘Refrigerator Capital of the
World.’” YouTube, F.J. Reitz High School, 21 Oct. 2020,
youtu.be/-HIyD9_HpJE?si=JcgzWSRcltyFYxmh.
[3] Runge, Mel. “Economic Fortune Rises, Falls with Manufacturing.” The Evansville Press, 31 Dec. 1998, p. 22.
Schleper, Anne. “Ex-Servel Employees Will Recall the Days When Evansville Was The World’s Refrigerator Capital.” The Evansville Courier, 7 Sept. 1992, pp. 1–2.
[4] Howard, Carolyn Ann. “Pete Ruthenburg Interview.” 04 Oct. 2024.
[5] White, Todd W. “How Absorption Refrigeration Works.” How a Servel Works, 2017, vintageservelrefrigerators.com/HowItWorks.html.
[6] Schleper.
[7] “Farmers Pride Nine to Meet Wallace and Servel Plays Democrats.” The Evansville Press, 29 May 1932, p. 10.
[8] Klinger, Ed. "Ruthenburg - A Giant in Our Town." The Evansville Press, 01 Nov 1969, p. 9.
[9] “Servel Electrolux To Be Shown at Two World’s Fairs.” The Sunday Courier and Press, 26 Feb. 1939, p. 4E.
[10] “Servel Loses Case Before Labor Board; Appeal Hinted.” The Evansville Press, 27 Mar. 1939, pp. 1–2.
[11] Howard.
[12] "Servel Gets Defense Order; Employment at 1940 Peak." The Evansville Press, 09 Dec 1940, p. 1.
[13] "Servel Sales in 1940 Top $22,300,000." The Evansville Courier, 23 Jan 1941, p. 13.
[14] MacLeod, James Lachlan. Evansville in World War II, The History Press, 2015, p. 27.
[15] MacLeod, James Lachlan. Lost Evansville, The History Press, 2023, pp. 63-65.
[16] Ibid, p. 70.
[17] Howard.
[18] Townsend, Paul. "Servel Deal Held Near." The Evansville Courier, 07 Dec 1957, pg. 1
[19] "Servel Notes Sent Servel Staff." The Evansville Press, 21 Dec 1957, pg. 1.
[20] Associated Press. “Evansville Warehouse Fire Spreads Several Blocks.” WISH, 1 Jan. 2023, www.wishtv.com/news/indiana-news/evansville-warehouse-fire-spreads-several-blocks/.
© 2024 by December Moonlight Publishing, LLC
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