The Origins of Car A/C
It was a sweltering August day when the Greenberg
brothers entered the posh Dearborn, Michigan offices
of the notoriously anti-Semitic car-maker, Henry Ford.
"Mr. Ford," announced Hyman Greenberg, the eldest of the
three, "we have a remarkable invention that will revolutionize
the automobile industry." Ford looked skeptical, but their
threats to offer it to the competition kept his interest piqued.
"We would like to demonstrate it to you in person." After a little
cajoling, they brought Mr. Ford outside and asked him to enter
a black Edsel that was parked in front of the building. Norman Greenberg,
the middle brother, opened the door of the car.
"Please step inside Mr. Ford."
"What!" shouted the tycoon, "Are you crazy? It must be two
hundred degrees in that car!"
"It is," smiled the youngest brother, Max," but sit down, Mr. Ford,
and push the white button." Intrigued, Ford pushed the button.
All of a sudden a whoosh of freezing air started blowing from
vents all around the car, and within seconds the automobile
was not only comfortable, it was quite cool!
"This is amazing!" exclaimed Ford. How much do you want for
the patent?"
Norman spoke up. "The price is one million dollars." Then he
paused, "And there is something else. We want the name
'Greenberg Brothers Air Conditioning' to be stamped right next
to the Ford logo."
"Money is no problem," retorted Ford, "but no way will I have a
'Jew-name' next to my logo on my cars!" They haggled back and
forth for a while and finally they settled. One and one half million
dollars, and the name Greenberg would be left off. However, the
first names of the Greenberg brothers would be forever
emblazoned upon the console of every Ford air conditioning
system.
And that is why today, whenever you enter a Ford vehicle you will
see those three names clearly defined on the air-conditioning
control panel:
HI     NORM     MAX
Squish Date 07/07/1998
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