The 1957 Frigidaire ad that kept tricking me about those 'automatic' defrosters

I've been collecting old appliance ads for a while and last month I dug out a 1957 Frigidaire spread that promised no more frost buildup. Took me three separate trips to the library archives to realize the fine print said 'defrosts in 8 minutes' but that only applied if you unplugged it first. My grandma's actual 1958 model took closer to 25 minutes and dripped all over the floor every time. Anyone else ever get burned by how those old ads stretched the truth on the small details?

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johnson.ryan18d ago

Ever notice how old ads never mention the "surprise puddle" feature? My uncle had one of those and he swore the frost was smarter than the defroster, it would wait until you had guests over to melt all over the linoleum. That fine print really was doing some heavy lifting back then.