Joel Hoshaw wrote:

> Why did we switch to Freon(tm)?  Was it strictly safety?

Safety would be my guess.  I remember (circa 1962) poking at my
grandmother's GE "icebox", which must have been of about the same
vintage as yours.

I pushed on the bellows coupling between the motor and the compressor,
and managed to momentarily dislodge the seal -- permitting a tiny bit
of sulfur dioxide to vent.

   * I thought I would DIE when I inhaled that stuff ! *

I must have coughed for 10 minutes.  Sulfur dioxide hydrates in your
lungs to form sulfurous acid.  Not good!

After that incident, I had a much greater empathy for the men who were
gassed in the wars.

John Rhodes