New GE Refrigerators at the Critchlow Apts

This is a fun photo of the Critchlow Apartments at 379 1^st Ave SLC (now known as First Avenue Flats).

General Electric Refrigerators for installation at Critchlow Apartments, Salt Lake City. ca 1929.
Image from USHS.

Detail of above.

It shows the delivery of new General Electric refrigerators, probably in 1929.

Known as “Monitor Top” refrigerators because their top mounted compressors resembled the gun turret of the Civil War ship, USS Monitor.

GE Monitor-Top Refrigerator.
Image from Albany Institute of Art History and Art. 

These were considered the first affordable refrigeration units for the average family, around $300 (about $5,500 in 2025 dollars). Often these refrigerators, and other electric devices, were offered for sale through the electric utility company, in this case, Utah Power and Light.

Disappearing Bed at the Critchlow Apartments

An interior view from 1909 of the Critchlow Apartments, 379 1st Ave SLC.

These images showcase a disappearing bed that can transform into a desk. The apartment boom of the early 1900s spurred the popularity of these beds, many of which were for sale in local Salt Lake City furniture shops.

Other names for a disappearing bed include Murphy bed (a specific patented brand), pull-down/fold-down bed, or hideaway bed.

Disappearing bed at the Critchlow Apartments, 1908. Image from USHS.

Disappearing bed, configured as a desk, at the Critchlow Apartments, 1908. Image from USHS.

Disappearing bed at the Critchlow Apartments, 1908. Image from USHS.

Advertisement for a disappearing bed available at Freed Furniture Store, Salt Lake City.
Image from Salt Lake Herald, June 4 1909.

Newspaper feature praising the benefits of Disappearing Beds.
Image from Salt Lake Tribune, July 12 1908.

The Critchlow was built in 1908 by John Q. Critchlow and designed by architect Charles B. Onderdonk. Built of dark red brick with white stone trim. The interior featured maple floors and colored tile baths and showers.

A building announcement promised soundproof floors with brick walls between apartments, a unique and notable feature at the time.

Both one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments were available and rented in 1908 at $30 (about $1K in 2025 dollars) and $46 (about $1.5K) a month.

The Critchlow became known by many other names through the years and is now known as First Avenue Flats.

1911 Sanborn Map showing the Critchlow Apts. Corner of 1st Ave and E Street, Salt Lake City.

The Critchlow in 1909 and 2022. Upper image from USHS, lower image from Google Street View.