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When one fridge is not enough

A refrigerator and deep freezer in the garage of Robyn Penniegraft in Greensboro, N.C. For many Americans, a second fridge — and sometimes a third — is another member of the family. / Photo by Swikar Patel/The New York Times A refrigerator and deep freezer in the garage of Robyn Penniegraft in Greensboro, N.C. For many Americans, a second fridge — and sometimes a third — is another member of the family. / Photo by Swikar Patel/The New York Times

By Cynthia Greenlee / New York Times News Service February 27, 2021 6 min read

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The beige-and-brown General Electric refrigerator, circa 1982, whirs in a dark corner of Doris and Anthony Vincent’s basement.

Doris Vincent, a 70-year-old churchgoer and longtime community volunteer, can date its purchase with precision. In her home here, appliances mark milestones. And that nearly 40-year-old model – one of three refrigerators she owns – tells a story of her re-entry into the workforce after having a daughter.

She spent much of her first paychecks from her job as a counselor at Bennett College on the refrigerator-freezer combo, with the external ice dispenser and other bells and whistles of its era. “I’d been a stay-at-home mother, you know,” she said.

When the couple built their 5,000-square-foot home in 1992, the GE went to the basement to make room for a stainless-steel upgrade that holds last night’s dinner and the morning’s juice.

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When one fridge is not enough

Doris Vincent with her freezer, which stands in addition to her three refrigerators, in Greensboro, N.C. For many Americans, a second fridge — and sometimes a third — is another member of the family. / Photo by Swikar Patel/The New York Times

A GE refrigerator that was purchased in the 1980s in the basement of Doris and Anthony Vincent's home in Greensboro, N.C. For many Americans, a second fridge — and sometimes a third — is another member of the family. / Photo by Swikar Patel/The New York Times

Some of the food that Robyn Penniegraft keeps in a freezer in her garage in Greensboro, N.C. For many Americans, a second fridge — and sometimes a third — is another member of the family. / Photo by Swikar Patel/The New York Times

Robyn Penniegraft with her main refrigerator in Greensboro, N.C. Penniegraft can tap the door to reveal what's inside. / Photo by Swikar Patel/The New York Times

But the second refrigerator is no afterthought appliance. It occupies pride of place in many American homes – often because, Anthony Vincent said, yesteryear’s fridges were built to last. That didn’t stop the couple, however, from buying a third model for the basement apartment they keep for guests.