The statement of account from General Refrigeration Company, dated 13 October 1953, is addressed to Mr Loh Yam Song (Loh Jin Hwee), owner of the bicycle shop, Song Seng Chan. It states monthly repayment details of the purchase of a Hotpoint fridge for his home at the total cost of $1,151 over a period of twelve months starting from September 1952. The fridge was installed in the living room on the upper floor of the two-storey shophouse located at 436 Joo Chiat Road. The upper floor was the living quarters for the Loh family while the ground floor housed the bicycle shop. This is part of a set of six documents related to the purchase of a Hotpoint fridge, which comprise a delivery note, hire purchase agreement, statement of account, official receipt, credit note and letter confirming full payment of the fridge. It gives us a fairly complete picture of an example of buying of a highly-priced consumer product through hire purchase, which took place barely seven years after the war. The artefacts form an important resource for the study of the social economic practices of a middle class family in Singapore in the early 1950s, which in turn aids in profiling consumer habits.
