Business and Industry | Page 87

Donaldson’s Glass Block store

Donaldson’s Glass Block, 1944. Photograph by Norton & Peel.

Donaldson’s Glass Block

Donaldson’s Glass Block, c.1920. Photograph by Charles P. Gibson.

Lawrence S. Donaldson at desk

Lawrence S. Donaldson at his desk, c.1920. Photograph by C.J. Hibbard.

Donaldson’s, also known as William Donaldson and Company and L. S. Donaldson’s, was a Minneapolis department store located on Nicollet Avenue and Sixth Street. Started by two immigrant brothers, the company grew to be one of the major retail chains in the Twin Cities, rivaling Dayton’s for much of the twentieth century.

Frederick McKinley Jones and drafting team

Frederick McKinley Jones and drafting team, c.1960. Image is from the Frederick Jones papers (1910–[196-]), Mansucripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Thermo King Corporation

The Thermo King Corporation campus in Bloomington as it appeared, c.1960.

Thermo King Model C

In 1939, Frederick McKinley Jones patented the world’s first successful refrigerated transportation system. At the time, he was working for the Minneapolis-based company U.S. Thermo Control. Two years later, he released an improved version, the Model C, which revolutionized the agriculture and military industries.