Frederick Jones was a prolific, self-taught inventor responsible for revolutionizing the refrigeration business by inventing a transport unit for trucks.The invention changed the way grocers shipped goods, and was instrumental during World War II.
Born May 17, 1893 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jones dropped out of school at age nine after his mother died. A priest raised him from that age until he was 16 in Kentucky. A
n avid reader, Jones worked as a mechanic’s apprentice, learning the inner and outer workings of motor vehicles. By the time he was 19, Jones built and drove cars as a racer in the Great Lakes region.
While serving in the Army in World War I, he worked as an electrician, and wired his camp with power, telegraph and telephone service. After his discharge, he moved to Minnesota where he built a snowmobile out of an old airplane body fashioned with skis and a motor. He used this so-called “snow machine” to aid doctors in the snowy region of Hallock on their house calls.
Over the next few years, Jones continued to create amazing inventions, including a portable X-ray machine, a radio transmitter and personal radio devices. Because he wasn’t business savvy, a lot of Jones’ earlier inventions were not patented, which cost him a fortune.
However, things changed when Jones met Joseph Numero. In 1927, Numero, who ran Ultraphone Sound Systems, hired Jones as an electrical engineer. The company made sound equipment for movie houses in the Midwest. Jones found a way to make silent-movie projectors to play sound by using random parts he found. He also figured out a way to make the pictures clearer.
While in the movie business, Jones invented an automatic ticket machine, selling the rights to RCA. Numero and Jones partnered to form the U.S. Thermo Control Company, which is where the inventor created his truck refrigeration units. The idea behind the units was to transport perishable goods over long distances without spoiling. Called the “Thermo King,” the invention was also outfitted for trains, boats and ships.
The company made millions, and helped kick off the boom of the frozen food industry. The Thermo King invention was also used during World War II, transporting blood serum and medicines that needed to be kept cold. A form of this transport is still used In 1944.
Jones was the first African-American elected into the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers. In the 50’s, he also served as a consultant to the Defense Department. Jones died of lung cancer on February 21, 1961. In 1991, then-President George H.W. Bush posthumously awarded Jones with the National Medal of Technology. Jones would be come the first Black inventor to win the honor.
(Photo: Minnesota Historical Society)
