Iconic Esky still a cool product
It's hard to believe the humble ice box is nearly 70 years oldEsky is as much an Aussie household name as the Hills Hoist, Victa and Vegemite, but the brand goes back much further than most people think.
The first ice box sold under the trade mark Eskimo (Esky) was manufactured by Francis Malley’s household products company in 1884, but it wasn’t a portable unit.
Back then, houses had ice chests for refrigeration and the ‘ice man cameth’ with block-ice every day in a horse-drawn cart.
In 1952 Malleys launched a portable cooler, branded Esky Auto Ice Box. It was formed from sheet metal and had a wire handle that doubled as a lid clamp.
The first portable Esky used cork sheeting for insulation, had room for six pint bottles and included a removable three-tray food rack. (I can remember my old man questioning the salesman closely about how many bottles of Resch’s Dinner Ale it could hold.)
Aimed at motorists, the Esky was advertised in motoring publications with the claim that the product was: “Just as essential in the boot as the jack”. The smiling Eskimo who became the familiar Esky brand character for the next 30 years made his first appearance near the end of 1959, with the catch-cry: “Cool, man, cool”.
Over the years the Esky cooler took on a new shape and new colours. By 1960, it was claimed that “500,000 happy picnickers” were relying on their Eskys, but it took Malleys until 1961 to register the trade name Esky for the portable food and drink container.
Although Australia views the portable Esky as a local invention, this is a contentious claim, because of a 1951 American patent application that was formally granted in 1953. American leisure goods company Coleman produced its first US-market, portable cooler box in 1954.
Plastics manufacturer Nylex took over production of the Esky product range from Malleys in 1984 and in 1989 signed a licensing agreement with Coleman. Under the terms of this agreement Nylex manufactured Coleman coolers and Coleman sold the Esky brand to camping stores.
Unsurprisingly, after Nylex went into receivership in 2009, the Esky brand was acquired by Coleman.
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