I once had an old
Pepsi fridge. It had the
Pepsi logo emblazoned on its front, and it was a very old refrigerator. While in college, I endeavored to convert it into a
beer tap by popping a
half keg in it.
Unfortunately for me, a half keg of my favorite brew wouldn't fit inside. It bumped into the freezer compartment of the fridge. After some dismantling, I managed to contort the freezer compartment out of the way of the keg. The test keg was inserted. Piping was installed. A spigot stuck out of her side. She was ready and chilled.
While removing the test keg from the refrigerator, we realized just how old the refrigerator was. During the jostling of the freezer compartment, some of the old pipes had become loose from their welds. The refrigerator started leaking.......SULFUR DIOXIDE!!!
Yes, in the early days before the discovery of Teflon (Teflon was discovered while they were researching new refigerants such as Freon), refrigerators were filled with sulfur dioxide as a refrigerant. Those adept at chemistry have already realized that at this point that our apartment filled with acrid gas capable of creating sulfurous acid in your nasal passages and lungs. All night long, we were locked in our rooms with wet towels under the doors to prevent our lungs from hemmoraging