Here Is Something Even Most Car Buffs Probably Didn't Know.
The Goldberg brothers, Norman, Hiram, and Maxwell invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner. Didn't know that, did ya..
On July 17th, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees F.
The 3 brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that three gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.
Ford 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 "Blistering Hot" - they turned on the air-conditioner and cooled off the car immediately.
Old Henry Ford got very excited and invited them back to the office where he offered them $3 million dollars on the spot for the patent.
The brothers refused, saying they would settle for just $2 million, but they wanted their recognition by having a label "The Goldberg Air Conditioner" on the dashboard of each car that it was in stalled in.
Now old man Ford was more than just a little bit Anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on 2 million Ford cars.
They haggled back and forth for about 2 hours and finally agreed on $4 million dollars and that just their first names would be displayed.
And so, even today, all Ford air-conditioners show on the controls, the names "Norm, Hi, & Max". There, now ya know it...
On July 17th, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees F.
The 3 brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that three gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.
Ford 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 "Blistering Hot" - they turned on the air-conditioner and cooled off the car immediately.
Old Henry Ford got very excited and invited them back to the office where he offered them $3 million dollars on the spot for the patent.
The brothers refused, saying they would settle for just $2 million, but they wanted their recognition by having a label "The Goldberg Air Conditioner" on the dashboard of each car that it was in stalled in.
Now old man Ford was more than just a little bit Anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on 2 million Ford cars.
They haggled back and forth for about 2 hours and finally agreed on $4 million dollars and that just their first names would be displayed.
And so, even today, all Ford air-conditioners show on the controls, the names "Norm, Hi, & Max". There, now ya know it...