Edward Hallstrom

Born at High Park station, near Coonamble, New South Wales, Hallstrom was the eighth of a family of nine children born to William Hallstrom, a saddler from England of Swedish extraction, and his Australian wife Mary Ann (née Colless).{{Citation |last=Tate |first=Audrey |title=Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom (1886–1970) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hallstrom-sir-edward-john-lees-10398 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2023-10-26 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}

The accepted biographical narrative is that, at the age of four, his father's farm failed and the family moved to Waterloo, an inner-city suburb of Sydney. The actual events before the move were complicated. In 1888, Hallstrom's father had sued a neighbour concerning damage caused by a dam on the neighbour's property. Not long before he won £500 in damages,{{Cite news |date=1888-12-12 |title=No. 2 JURY COURT. |pages=6 |work=Evening News|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108118536 |access-date=2023-04-16}} a suspicious fire destroyed a shed on his property, containing uninsured grains and goods, said to be worth over £300.{{Cite news |date=1888-11-08 |title=Suspected Incendiarism. |pages=6 |work=Evening News |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108110055 |access-date=2023-04-16}} In February 1890, his father was arrested, after another fire that caused damage to insured property worth £500—another man's shed containing property belonging to William Hallstrom—was found to be willfully caused.{{Cite news |date=1890-02-26 |title=Arson. |pages=61 |work=New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251637145 |access-date=2023-04-09}} Charged with arson, he was acquitted at trial, in March 1890,{{Cite news |date=1890-03-24 |title=COUNTRY NEWS. |pages=8 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13764302 |access-date=2023-04-09}} after one of the witnesses against him had admitted to perjury.{{Cite news |date=1890-02-22 |title=TELEGRAPHIC. |pages=5 |work=Clarence & Richmond Examiner|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61230555 |access-date=2023-04-09}} Soon after his acquittal for arson, William Hallstrom was arrested and committed for trial, on a charge of subornation of perjury.{{Cite news |date=1890-03-26 |title=Apprehensions, &c. |pages=100 |work=New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251637244 |access-date=2023-04-16}} The charges were probably dropped, as there seems to have been no trial. By early April 1890, William Hallstrom was selling off his farm horses.{{Cite news |date=1890-04-10 |title=Advertising - 7 Coonamble Horses |pages=13 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13766274 |access-date=2023-04-16}}

Not long afterwards, the family moved to Sydney, settling at Waterloo. There, Hallstrom formed a friendship with the young William McKell, whose early life and family circumstances have some striking similarities to Hallstrom's own. McKell became first a boilermaker and was involved in the Labour Movement, later studied law and became a barrister, entered politics and was later a Premier of New South Wales, and eventually became Governor-General of Australia. Although Hallstrom himself would never be a supporter of the Australian Labor Party, their friendship was lifelong.{{Citation |last=Cunneen |first=Chris |title=McKell, Sir William John (1891–1985) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mckell-sir-william-john-15293 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2023-08-10 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}

Hallstrom's parents separated—actually his father, William Hallstrom, seems to have deserted the family—and, by the age of 10, Hallstrom was working, performing a variety of jobs to help supplement the family's income, as were his siblings. Hallstrom never spoke of his father, but did have memories of difficult times and the struggle to keep the farm.

Largely self-taught and having left school at thirteen, Hallstrom applied himself well to both his studies and his work. Hallstrom is said to have taught himself by reading books, including the English publication, Harmsworth Self-Educator, a copy of which he kept until his death.{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme E. |title=Never say never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Richmond, N.S.W. |pages=14, 15}}{{Cite book |last=Mee |first=Arthur |url=http://archive.org/details/harmsworthselfed01meeauoft |title=Harmsworth self-educator : a golden key to success in life |date=1906–1907 |publisher=Harmsworth |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |location=London}} Hallstrom was apprenticed, as a cabinet maker and eventually took charge of a furniture factory. Hallstrom later founded a business of his own, manufacturing bedsteads.

He was of a Methodist background. John and Mary Lees, pioneers of the Methodist denomination in Australia, were ancestors on his mother's side.{{Cite web |title=Fridge king establishes Taronga Park Zoo |url=https://www.mytributes.com.au/article/historic-stories/edward-john-lees-hallstrom/4152001/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=My Tributes |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=John & Mary Lees {{!}} Monument Australia |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/religion/display/95163-john-and-mary-lees |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=monumentaustralia.org.au}} Hallstrom was a lifelong teetotaller, and neither smoked nor gambled.

File:George A Taylor Narrabeen.jpg

Hallstrom was a member of the Australian Aerial League, led by George Augustine Taylor. Beginning on 5 December 1909, at the sand hills near the entrance to Narrabeen Lakes, he took turns—along with Taylor, Taylor's wife Florence Mary Taylor, and two others—to make short non-powered flights, in a glider that Taylor had built, based upon the box-kite designs of Taylor's close friend, Lawrence Hargraves. It was intended that the glider would be fitted with an engine to become the first Australian-made aeroplane, but the engine was not delivered,{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme |title=Never say never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Kurrajong (Copy held in collection of the National Library of Australia) |pages=16, 17}}{{Cite news |date=1909-12-07 |title=GLIDING AT NARRABEEN. |pages=3 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15096414 |access-date=2023-04-04}}{{Cite news |date=1909-12-08 |title=AUSTRALIAN'S FIRST FLIGHT. |work=Star |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230493046 |access-date=2023-04-04}}{{Cite news |date=1910-06-28 |title=AN AEROPLANE ENGINE |pages=4 |work=Evening News |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115239652 |access-date=2023-04-04}} and that honour went instead to John Duigan.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2016-05-03 |title=Our first aviators {{!}} Aviation in Australia |url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/aviation-australia/our-first-aviators |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=State Library of NSW}}

The flights on 5 December 1909 are regarded as the first flights of a heavier-than-air aircraft in Australia, and are commemorated by three replicas of Taylor's glider, one of which is in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.{{Cite web |title=Machine - Glider |url=https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/4fc9a9462162ef09a0849651 |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=Victorian Collections |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=National Museum of Australia |title=Taylor's biplane glider replica |url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highlights/taylors-biplane-glider-replica |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=www.nma.gov.au |language=en}}

Hallstrom met his first wife, Margaret Elliott Jaffrey, on a trip to Queensland. She was a talented artist, and shared his enthusiasm for birds and animals. They were married at her parents' home in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm, on 6 April 1912. After their reception, the newly weds left for Sydney on RMS Osterley.{{Cite news |date=1912-04-17 |title=Hallstrom—Jaffery. |work=Brisbane Courier|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19752197 |access-date=2023-03-29}} The couple had one son and three daughters.

Hallstrom's business, in Abattoir Road, Pyrmont—set up by late 1920{{Cite news |date=1920-09-14 |title=Advertising |pages=14 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15906812 |access-date=2023-08-11}} and possibly as early as late 1918{{Cite news |date=1918-11-26 |title=Advertising |pages=12 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15812611 |access-date=2023-08-11}}—flourished initially. Hallstrom claimed to have made the first innerspring mattresses in Australia.{{Cite web |title=Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom, 25 September 1886- 27 February 1970 |url=https://www.pittwateronlinenews.com/Sir-Edward-John-Lees-Hallstrom-History.php |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Pittwater Online News}}

Hallstrom set up a sawmill to mill his own hardwood timber, at Micalong (near Tumut), in 1921, reportedly at a cost of £3,500.{{Cite news |date=1921-02-15 |title=ADELONG SPLASHES |pages=3 |work=Tumut Advocate and Farmers and Settlers' Adviser |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112270901 |access-date=2023-08-11}}{{Cite news |date=1922-06-06 |title=ARGALONG. |pages=4 |work=Tumut Advocate and Farmers and Settlers' Adviser |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112272288 |access-date=2023-08-11}} The sawmill was sold to others in mid 1922, after being idle for several months.{{Cite news |date=1922-06-02 |title=TUMUT. |pages=7 |work=Albury Banner and Wodonga Express |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102315283 |access-date=2023-08-11}} The costly, short-lived expansion into saw milling probably had put Hallstrom's privately owned business under some financial strain. Hallstrom registered a public company, E. J. L. Hallstrom Ltd, in November 1923, with capital of £10,000 in £1 shares, to acquire the business in November 1923,{{Cite news |date=1923-11-28 |title=COMPANIES REGISTERED |pages=5 |work=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159922017 |access-date=2023-08-11}} although it is likely that Hallstrom, or his family, owned most if not all of the new shares.

The never properly explained death of one of his wire-mattress makers, at the Pyrmont factory, in July 1923, both attracted nationwide attention and litigation that eventually reached the High Court, which directed the matter to arbitration under the Workmen's Compensation Act. The arbitration confirmed an award of £500 to the widow, in 1925, and that, with legal costs, crippled the business financially. E. J. L. Hallstrom Ltd, which had by then moved to Moore Street, Leichhardt, was voluntarily wound up in early 1926.{{Cite news |date=1926-02-05 |title=E. J. L. HALLSTROM LTD. |work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223019734 |access-date=2023-03-29}} Hallstrom was made bankrupt in February 1926.{{Cite news |date=1926-02-12 |title=IN BANKRUPTCY. |work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223019949 |access-date=2023-03-29}} It seemed as if Hallstrom's business career was at an early end.

While Hallstrom bedstead business prospered, Hallstrom and his family had been living in the suburb of Roseville, and he was well off enough to own a motor car. The financial difficulties that followed were described as "eight difficult years" by his daughter Esme.{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme E. |title=Never say never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Richmond, N.S.W. |pages=23, 24, 26, 28, 29. 30, 31}} During that time, Hallstrom became bankrupt, the life of relative prosperity ended, and the family moved often; first to Balgowlah, and then to Gore Hill, Dee Why, and Willoughby.{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme E. |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4278051 |title=Never say never |date=2007 |publisher=Esme E. Bell |location=Richmond, N.S.W}}

Esme says that the family fortunes began to improve once Hallstrom was employed at the same factory, in Redfern, where he had worked as a foreman before commencing his own bedstead business. He had been sought out by his former employer, when he heard that Hallstrom was in difficulty.{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme E. |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4278051 |title=Never say never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Richmond, N.S.W. |pages=52, 53, 61}} In 1915, Hallstrom had been named as the inventor on a patent, but the patent had been assigned in the name of one Louis Joseph, a manufacturer of bedding, who had a bedding factory in Shepherd Street, Redfern;Australian Patent 18,205/15 "Improvements in stretcher beds." Application dated: 20th December 1915 Applicant (Actual Inventor) EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM, Applicant (Assignee of Actual Inventor) Louis JOSEPH. Application and Provisional Specification Lodged 20th December 1915. Application and Provisional Specification Accepted 11th January, 1916. Complete Specification Lodged 1st September, 1916. Complete Specification Accepted 15th Jan.1917. Acceptance Advertised (Sec. 50) 23 Jan. 1917.{{Cite news |date=1924-10-11 |title=REDFERN FIRE |pages=17 |work=Daily Telegraph|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245464693 |access-date=2023-04-13}} it is almost certain that he was Hallstrom's benefactor in difficult times. Hallstrom was said to have remained grateful to him, for the rest of his days, something that may have influenced his own later philanthropy.

The business also manufactured wooden cabinets of ice chests, something that stimulated Hallstrom's interest in refrigeration. While working at the factory, he developed an insulated wooden ice chest design, with a top-access door, that would reappear in his earliest refrigerators.

The difficult years ended around 1932, when Hallstrom was released from bankruptcy, having already begun small-scale manufacturing of refrigerators around 1930. He was able to purchase both the building that became his factory and Figtree House at Northbridge, which would become his home. Although it was on a large block of waterfront land, the house, built in 1875, was old and isolated, located in an area yet to be developed, and without a water, gas or electricity supply.

Initially, refrigeration was not the only area to catch Hallstrom's interest; he dabbled in aviation{{Cite news |date=1909-12-30 |title=GLIDING AND AEROPLANING. |pages=10 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15094851 |access-date=2023-03-31}} and claimed to have invented a new type of shell to strike ships below the waterline. His first three Australian patents, in 1913, 1915, and 1926, were to do with the design of beds.Australian patents 11,426/13, 18,205/15, and 4,063/26. However, it was his interest in refrigeration that would have the most tangible results. Self taught, he read up on the subject, including reading every patent on refrigeration taken out since Federation.

During the 1920s, electric refrigerators were available,{{Cite news |date=1924-03-16 |title=ELECTRIC ICE CHEST. |pages=16 |work=Daily Mail |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217614984 |access-date=2023-04-08}} but were expensive and so relatively uncommon. In towns, iceboxes, also called ice chests in Australia, were common but required home deliveries of blocks of ice, at intervals dictated by the weather conditions.{{Cite news |date=1925-02-25 |title=DELIVERY OF ICE. |pages=8 |work=Daily Telegraph |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article178381059 |access-date=2023-04-08}} Residents of rural areas, remote or yet to be electrified, had little choice other than the Coolgardie safe, an evaporative cooler of limited effectiveness. An affordable and effective refrigeration solution for the rural parts of the country was needed, and presented a great business opportunity.

Various sources state that Hallstrom invented his Icy Ball refrigeration device in 1923. However, there is a problem with that early date; there is concurrence that the invention took place in the backyard shed of his home at Dee Why, but in 1923 Hallstrom was not yet living at Dee Why. Hallstrom's daughter Esme put the year as both 1926 and 1927, in her account of the family. She also states that John (born 1915), although in his teens, learned the skill of oxy-welding to assist his father's work. Later an accomplished artist herself, Esme made a sketch of the family with the refrigeration apparatus, presumably from memory, which accurately rendered a device quite similar to that later patented by Hallstrom—heated by what appears to be a Primus stove—and she described its operation in a way that is like that of an Icy Ball.{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme E. |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4278051 |title=Never say never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Richmond, N.S.W. |pages=62, 63, 64}} His biographer, Audrey Tate, gives the year of the manufacture of his first refrigeration device as 1928.

File:Icy ball top.JPG that was mass-produced in the U.S.A. Like Hallstrom's device, it was necessary to remove the device to recharge it.]]

Another kerosene-powered refrigerating device, also called an Icy Ball, was invented by Canadian engineer, David Forbes Keith. Keith had filed two Canadian patent applications relating to absorption refrigeration, in 1921Canadian Patent 207395 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS and 1922.Canadian Patent 221285 APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING Later, while consulting to the Crosley Radio Corp, he reused concepts from his earlier patents to design the Icy Ball. After Keith filed for a U.S. patent (1,740,737), on 27 June 1927, it was mass-produced in the United States by Powel Crosley Jr., but the US patent was only granted on 24 December 1929.{{Cite web |title=The Icyball |url=https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/features/the-icyball/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Canadian Consulting Engineer |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=IcyBall Patent #1,740,737 |url=https://crosleyautoclub.com/IcyBall/IB1740737/IB1740737.html |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=crosleyautoclub.com}} It was being sold in Australia, by December 1927.{{Cite news |date=1927-12-15 |title=Advertising |pages=32 |work=Italian Bulletin of Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258895417 |access-date=2023-03-31}}{{Cite news |date=1928-09-21 |title=THE CROSLEY ICYBALL |pages=6 |work=Manilla Express |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193870782 |access-date=2023-03-31}}

Yet another early, imported, kerosene-powered refrigeration device was the "Gnome ice producer"—its original German brand name was "Gnom"{{Cite news |date=1939-08-14 |title=Advertising |pages=32 |work=Daily Telegraph |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article186295264 |access-date=2023-04-17}}—which was on sale in Australia, by June 1926,{{Cite news |date=1926-06-24 |title=FALCONER HUTTON PAVILION. |pages=11 |work=Morning Bulletin |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55262674 |access-date=2023-04-17}} even before the Crosley Icy Ball U.S. patent had been filed. Essentially, its operating procedure was the same as an Icy Ball.{{Cite news |date=1926-08-12 |title=A HOME REFRIGERATOR. |pages=17 |work=Brisbane Courier |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21036261 |access-date=2023-04-17}} From around late 1927—possibly as early as June 1926—a more advanced kerosene-powered model, with an upright cabinet, referred to as a "Gnome refrigerator" was on sale,{{Cite news |date=1927-12-05 |title="GNOME" REFRIGERATOR. |work=Wellington Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article143260244 |access-date=2023-04-17}}{{Cite news |date=1928-11-08 |title=Advertising - Do You Have Difficulty in Keeping Meat Fresh? A 'Gnome' Refrigerator |pages=46 |work=Catholic Advocate |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258734699 |access-date=2023-04-17}} until at least 1931; its semi-automatic operating procedure was similar to Hallstrom's later 1934 model.{{Cite news |date=1931-01-28 |title=Advertising - Gnome refrigerators |pages=3 |work=Townsville Daily Bulletin |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61580146 |access-date=2023-04-17}}

File:Hallstrom refrigerators - Drawing from Australian patent No. 13,475-28.jpg

The Hallstrom and Crosley Icy Balls—almost certainly, the "Gnome ice producer" too—appear to have operated on similar principles; both consisted of two connected vessels that acted as a boiler/generator and condenser/evaporator, both used a mixture of ammonia and water as the refrigeration medium, and all three devices were operated using essentially the same manual recharging procedure. However, the shapes of the vessels of the two designs were quite different, and their similarities otherwise, quite probably, resulted from independent inventors attempting to solve exactly the same problem.

In May 1928, with Hallstrom still bankrupt and therefore using his wife's name, M. E. Hallstrom, a patent application, 13,475, "Improvements in refrigerating apparatus" was made,{{Cite news |date=1928-06-20 |title=COMMONWEALTH APPLICATIONS. |work=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160009916 |access-date=2023-03-29}}Australian Patent 13,475/28, "Improvements in refrigerating apparatus". Applicant: Margaret Elliot Hallstrom. Application dated 25th May 1928. Application and Provisional Specification Accepted 11th June 1928. Complete Specification Accepted 16th January 1929. Acceptance Advertised (Sec. 50) 29th January 1929. covering his refrigeration invention. This was followed by five more patent applications, all successful, which, after his release from bankruptcy in 1932, were made under his own name, in 1934,Australian patent 16,396/34, "Improvements in and relating to refrigerating apparatus". Application dated 16 February 1934, Applicant (Actual Inventor) EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM. Application and Provisional Specification Accepted, 12th March, 1934. Complete Specification Accepted, 16th May, 1935. Acceptance Advertised (Sec. 50) 30th May, 1935. 1935,Australian Patent No. 22,470/35."Improvements relating to condensing means in refrigerating apparatus."Application dated:18th July, 1934, Applicant (Actual Inventor) EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM. Application and Complete Specification Accepted: 18th July, 1935. Acceptance Advertised (Sec. 50): 1st August, 1935. two in 1936,Australian Patent: No. 1003/36. "Improvements in household refrigerator cabinets." Application dated: 16th March, 1936. Applicant (Actual Inventor) .EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM. Application and Provisional Specification Accepted, 8th April, 1936. Complete Specification after Provisional Specification Lodged, 3rd April, 1936. Complete Specification Accepted, 5th November, 1936. Acceptance Advertised (See. 50) 19th November, 1936.Australian patent No. 5021/36. " Improvements in the boiler elements of absorption refrigerators." Application Date 30th Nov., 1936. Applicant (Actual Inventor) EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM. Application and Provisional Specification.. Accepted, 17th December, 1936. Complete Specification after Provisional Lodged, 28th August, 1937. Specification Complete Specification Accepted, 25th October, 1937. Acceptance Advertised (Sec. 50) 11th November, 1937. and 1940.Australian Patent: No. 112,904, Application No. 1385/40. "Improvements in boilers for absorption type refrigerating machines." Application Date: 9th Apr. 1940. Applicant (Actual Inventor): EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM Application and Provisional Specification Accepted: 1st May, 1940. Complete Specification after Provisional Specification Lodged: 5th February 1941. Complete Specification Accepted: 9th April 1941. Acceptance Advertised (Sec. 50) 24th April, 1941. He registered the design of his refrigerator (Registered design No. 12092), in 1934, the same year that his new refrigerator factory in Willoughby opened. His last patent was in 1951.Australian Patent No.152,255, Application No. 4848/51, "Improvements in gas burners." Application Date: 3rd September 1951, Complete Specification Published: 4th September 1952, Complete Specification Accepted: 9th July, 1953.

As Hallstrom became better known, the widespread perception that he was a groundbreaking Australian inventor and engineer became a part of his well-crafted public persona,{{Cite news |date=1937-10-23 |title=Australian Engineer Leads World In His Field |pages=45 |work=Smith's Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235897977 |access-date=2023-04-08}} and an asset in selling refrigerators.

File:Hallstrom 'White Frost' refrigerator advertisement (Sun (Sydney) 26 March 1932. page 4).jpg

Hallstrom's Icy Ball was a kerosene-powered chest model, which he designed for use in the Australian outback, where the low-tech Coolgardie safe was in widespread use. He initially went to the outback to sell these units himself. In July 1928, the Crosley Radio Corporation took out an Australian trademark on the word "Icyball", meaning that Hallstrom could not use that branding.{{Cite news |date=1928-07-04 |title=TRADE MARK APPLICATIONS. |work=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159979955 |access-date=2023-03-28}} Hallstrom used the brand name "White Frost" also the name of a well-known American brand of domestic ice chest.{{Cite web |title=Please, Bob, buy me a White Frost Refrigerator |url=https://arizonahistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Pioneer-Museum-White-Frost-Refridgerator-CAE20-031.pdf |website=Arizona Historical Society Pioneer Museum}} However, his design was by then protected by patent.

The backyard shed of the Hallstrom's home at 26 Ryan Street (now Artarmon Road), Willoughby, was the location of his first manufacturing of refrigeration equipment. In March 1932, a refrigerator, known as the "White Frost", combining a removable, rechargeable refrigeration device and a top-entry insulated chest, was advertised as being on display at the 1932 Royal Easter Show, or at 26 Ryan Street. The "White Frost" was being advertised, by July 1930, for sale via the rural agency Dalgety & Company, and presumably Hallstrom's fledgling manufacturing operation was underway by then.{{Cite news |date=1930-07-19 |title=Advertising |pages=18 |work=Daily Pictorial |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246136541 |access-date=2023-04-06}}

Hallstrom was an unlikely beneficiary of a new tax on fares of privately owned buses operating along tram routes, imposed in November 1931. Intended to stem losses due to bus competition with the government-owned tramways. It put some bus operators out of business and caused others to greatly scale back their operations to remain profitable.{{Cite news |date=1931-10-26 |title=BUS OWNERS DECLARE GENERAL LOCK-OUT |pages=5 |work=Labor Daily |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236680002 |access-date=2023-04-05}}{{Cite news |date=1931-01-14 |title=WHITE TRANSIT CO. LTD. |pages=15 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16745682 |access-date=2023-04-06}}{{Cite news |date=1931-10-26 |title=THE REGULATIONS. |pages=9 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16810867 |access-date=2023-04-06}} The White Transit Company's large bus depot building in Willoughby Road, Willoughby, close to where Hallstrom was living, was left unoccupied, after it was forced to abandon most of its services in the area.{{Cite news |date=1932-12-05 |title=BUNDLE OF LETTERS, Transport Problems. |pages=11 |work=Sun |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230576136 |access-date=2023-04-06}} In 1932, Hallstrom bought the land and the building that would become the first building of his factory, which was later expanded to occupy adjacent land. The trams that ran right past its entrance made it easily accessible for his new workforce.

File:'Gnome' ('Gnom') German-made refrigerator (The Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld) 8 Nov 1928, Page 46).jpg

Australia's population in 1928 was only 6.3 million, and its growth slowed dramatically with the onset of the Great Depression.{{Cite news |date=1930-03-04 |title=AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION. |pages=16 |work=Brisbane Courier |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21504402 |access-date=2023-04-05}} After Federation, the Commonwealth government had protected Australian-manufactured goods from import competition. The tariff on refrigerators was 75%,{{Cite news |date=1930-06-20 |title=IMPORT DUTIES. |pages=9 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16669409 |access-date=2023-04-05}} or under the system of Imperial Preference, 55% if made in one of the participating countries of the British Empire. Such a large tariff that sheltered local refrigerator manufacturers from import competition worked both for and against him; it protected local manufacturers, like Hallstrom, but also encouraged large foreign firms to set up local manufacturing or assembly operations in Australia. The large American manufacturer Kelvinator commenced local assembly of its electric refrigerators in 1935.{{Cite news |date=1935-11-16 |title=REFRIGERATION |pages=6 |work=Sunraysia Daily |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article265965527 |access-date=2023-04-28}} However, Hallstrom had the further advantage of having a niche market sector, in rural areas, then largely without electricity.

File:Hallstrom chest refrigerator, advertisement, improved 1936 model (Pacific islands monthly, Vol. VI, No. 11, June 17 1936, p14).jpg

In 1934, Hallstrom introduced a refrigerator design—based on his patent 16,396/34 of the same year—that was more sophisticated than the "icy ball" concept. It had a separate condenser and evaporator, rather than the combined condenser/evaporator used in the "icy ball" approach, and was semi-automatic in operation. It was this 1934 design that was first manufactured in large numbers. Initially, it too was marketed as "White Frost",{{Cite news |date=1934-11-08 |title=Advertising |pages=8 |work=Dalgety's Review |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266266348 |access-date=2023-04-08}} but soon just became "Hallstrom".

Hallstrom's factory also manufactured its refrigerators under other brand names, probably differentiated to suit different distributors of its products. The refrigerators Hallstrom manufactured at the Willoughby factory could also appear under the brand names Sno-man, Gulbransen, Magicold, Selfreezer, Freeze, Super-Freezer, Hollingsworth, and others.{{Cite news |date=1937-10-10 |title=Wyper Howard Ltd. |pages=25 |work=Sunday Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58791315 |access-date=2023-04-27}} Separate advertisements, for the same product, using different brand names, could appear together.{{Cite news |date=1935-11-22 |title=Advertising |pages=2 |work=Horsham Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75238888 |access-date=2023-04-27}} It was an early instance of an approach that later became known as "badge engineering".

By the later mid 1930s, Hallstrom's refrigerators, chest models with an external refrigeration unit and effective rather than aesthetically pleasing,{{Cite news |date=1937-10-23 |title=Australian Engineer Leads World In His Field |pages=45 |work=Smith's Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235897977 |access-date=2023-03-28}}{{Cite news |date=1935-10-12 |title=Advertising |pages=55 |work=Australasian |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141763675 |access-date=2023-04-02}} suffered increasing competition from upright models that took up less floor area and had more features and a more attractive appearance.{{Cite news |date=1934-11-29 |title=MODERN REFRIGERATORS. |pages=6 |work=Huon and Derwent Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137247168 |access-date=2023-04-08}}{{Cite news |date=1937-08-24 |title=Advertising |pages=17 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27985440 |access-date=2023-04-08}} Hallstrom argued that the chest design was better than an upright design, for technical reasons,{{Cite news |date=1935-07-26 |title=DAWN OF NEW ERA |pages=18 |work=Land |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104197390 |access-date=2023-03-29}} but the refrigerator market now demanded upright models. Hallstrom responded by also manufacturing an upright model refrigerator, from 1936, and improving his chest model refrigerators.{{Cite news |date=1936-04-11 |title=E. HALLSTROM, LTD. |pages=10 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17338557 |access-date=2023-03-29}}

However, a major design deficiency that Hallstrom had to contend with was that his refrigerator designs relied upon water cooling.{{Cite news |date=1946-08-02 |title=LAW COURT REPORTS |pages=6 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17989935 |access-date=2023-04-01}} His 1936 "De Luxe" upright refrigerator still had the bulky water-filled tank, containing its immersed condenser, atop its cabinet.{{Cite news |date=1936-04-08 |title=Advertising |pages=36 |work=Sydney Mail |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160637917 |access-date=2023-04-04}}

File:SLNSW 22126 Lorries loaded with Electrolux refrigerators taken for AnivittiSchey Ltd.jpg

Electrolux was a large multinational appliance manufacturer, of Swedish origin and controlled by Axel Wenner-Gren, which made absorption refrigerators generally regarded as superior to Hallstrom's. Its designs were based on a groundbreaking 1922 invention, by Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters, and used air cooling from 1931. Around 1927, Electrolux had entered the Australian market, selling upright refrigerators made at its factory in Luton, England.{{Cite news |date=1927-12-09 |title=Advertising - Jill Frost Demonstrates The incomparable Electrolux Refrigeration |pages=7 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16425221 |access-date=2023-03-31}}{{Cite web |title="The flame that freezes", the "wonderful box" and a revolution in fresh food storage |url=https://www.electroluxgroup.com/en/the-flame-that-freezes-the-wonderful-box-and-a-revolution-in-fresh-food-storage-28813 |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Electrolux Group |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=HALLSTROMS PTY LTD. v. FEDERAL COMMISSIONER OF TAXATION, High Court of Australia |url=https://iknow.cch.com.au/document/atagUio2666991sl697451033/hallstroms-pty-ltd-v-federal-commissioner-of-taxation#:~:text=Ltd.-,v.,production%20of%20the%20assessable%20income. |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=CCH iKnow {{!}} Australian Tax & Accounting}}

File:Hallstron Refrigerator - Advert. for 1938 'Centenary' model (Northern Producer and Morawa and District Advertiser , WA, 9 Dec 1938 Page 5 ).jpg

Electrolux was a major competitor, with Hallstrom's factory, in the market segment of kerosene-powered refrigerators for rural customers.{{Cite news |date=1938-12-09 |title=Modern Refrigeration for the Country Home. |pages=10 |work=Midlands Advocate |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article250928345 |access-date=2023-04-06}}{{Cite news |date=1938-12-09 |title=Kerosene Operated Appliances Supply Much Needed Conveniences For Country Residents |pages=10 |work=Midlands Advocate |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article250928354 |access-date=2023-04-06}} Its Australian presence became more firmly entrenched, once it commenced manufacturing vacuum cleaners, in Melbourne, in 1936.{{Cite web |title=History timeline 1930-1939 |url=https://www.electroluxgroup.com/en/history-timeline-1930-1939-27584 |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=Electrolux Group |language=en-US}}

Two key Australian patents held by Electrolux, covering its successful, continuously freezing, air-cooled design, were due to expire on 18 August 1938. Hallstrom had prepared his factory to make use of design aspects covered by the expiring patents. However, on 29 December 1938, Electrolux petitioned to extend its patents, for another ten years; they had already begun to manufacture their refrigerators in Melbourne.{{Cite news |date=1939-09-29 |title=The "Electrolux" |pages=1 |work=Henty Observer and Culcairn Shire Register |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176231884 |access-date=2023-04-07}}{{Cite news |date=1938-10-07 |title=ELECTROLUX KERO REFRIGERATOR |pages=6 |work=Wiluna Miner |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258061065 |access-date=2023-04-08}}

Hallstrom had new models planned for 1938-1939,{{Cite news |date=1938-04-09 |title=HALLSTROM MAKES HISTORY AGAIN |pages=30 |work=Smith's Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234541639 |access-date=2023-03-31}} but it eventuated that his 1938 "Centenary" upright model—somewhat more aesthetically pleasing than the 1936 model—still had a large, if better-disguised, tank filled with brine on top.{{Cite news |date=1938-12-09 |title=Give Comfort to the Home this Xmas |pages=5 |work=Northern Producer and Morawa and District Advertiser |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article257659935 |access-date=2023-04-07}}{{Cite news |date=1938-12-09 |title=Advertising - Beat the Heat with a HALLSTROM refrigerator |pages=5 |work=Northern Producer and Morawa and District Advertiser |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article257659914 |access-date=2023-04-07}}

Hallstrom and another local manufacturer opposed the petition, and it was subsequently dismissed, on 28 March 1940.{{Cite news |date=1940-03-29 |title=REFRIGERATOR PATENT |pages=4 |work=Age |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204414888 |access-date=2023-04-07}} Once the Electrolux petition was dismissed, Hallstrom was free to apply the technology covered by the expired Electrolux patents, including an air-cooled design, to his new models for 1940.

Hallstrom renewed his product line with the development of the popular "Silent Knight" upright refrigerator. These were absorption refrigerators, without any moving parts, obtained the necessary heat to drive the refrigeration process from either a kerosene or town gas burner or from an electric element.{{Cite web |title=Silent Knight refrigerator advertisement, Rugby League News, Vol. 27 No. 14 (29 June 1946), Page 2 |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-617054836 |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Trove |language=en}} As the first of Hallstrom's refrigerators to use air cooling, the new model had a more aesthetically-pleasing and contemporary appearance.

File:'Silent Knight' refrigerator brand badge.jpg

File:Hallstrom 'Silent Knight' kerosene-powered refrigerator (from manual).jpgThe famous brand name, "Silent Knight", was being used by mid 1940.{{Cite news |date=1940-07-31 |title=Advertising |pages=6 |work=Construction |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222859103 |access-date=2023-03-29}} These upright refrigerators were suited both to Hallstrom's traditional rural customers—many still not connected to electrical mains supply—and to those living in urban areas. The end of the war and returning military personnel would bring a rapid increase in family formation, and with that a high demand for refrigerators.

The refrigerators were produced in a factory in Willoughby under the business name of Hallstroms Pty Ltd. During World War II the factory manufactured munitions, as well as refrigerators for the use of the United States Army.

By the mid-1940s, the factory was producing around 1,200 refrigerators weekly, which were exported as well as sold locally. In 1949, demand was so high that there was said to be a delay of seven months for retailers to obtain new stock.{{Cite news |date=1949-06-09 |title=SILENT KNIGHT REFRIGERATORS |pages=6 |work=Gilgandra Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112843042 |access-date=2023-04-02}} The "Hallstrom Silent Knight" was a fairly-priced, locally produced product at a time (post-war era) when imported refrigerators were very expensive. Their resulting popularity made Hallstrom a millionaire.

Hallstrom was the sole owner of this business. Hallstrom claimed in 1937 that he had never accepted a penny of outside capital, nor had a board of directors to demand large profits, and that he was responsible to no one but himself. Hallstrom was quoted as saying, "My main interest in the business is not large profits, but the technical work of my products." The ability to use his profits, as he alone saw fit, allowed him to become a notable philanthropist.

File:Edward Hallstrom - icy ball Refrigeration 1923.jpg|Edward Hallstrom refrigeration unit

File:Lid of E.Hallstrom Unit.jpg|Lid of Hallstrom refrigeration unit, nameplate with 1934 patent reference.

File:Side view of E. Hallstrom - Kerosene Ammonia Refrigeration unit.jpg|Side view of Hallstrom kerosene ammonia refrigeration unit

File:Twin Kerosene burners of E. Hallstrom - Kerosene Ammonia Refrigeration unit.jpg|Twin Kerosene burners of Hallstrom kerosene ammonia refrigeration unit

File:Hallstrom 'Silent Knight' refrigerator advertisement (The Rugby League news, Vol. 27 No. 14, 29 June 1946, Page 2).jpg|Advertisement for Silent Knight upright refrigerator (June 1946)

Having lived an early life of hardship and enduring a second period of hardship in middle age, Hallstrom held a view that the mere accumulation of wealth was not enough. He was quoted, by his daughter Esme, as saying, "It's nice to have money. It oils the wheels, but never get carried away with it. Selfishly hoarding up wealth unnecessarily for personal power or self gratification does no good for anybody." He went on saying, "I never forget where the money comes from in the first place, just the ordinary working man mostly. Probably had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to pay for his refrigerator. So it's only common decency to give back what you can and hopefully where it will do the most good."{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4278051 |title=Never Say Never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Kurrajong, N.S.W. |pages=113}}

Hallstrom directed much of his fortune to the Taronga Zoological Park in Sydney, becoming a trustee and later chairman of the zoo. He personally funded the purchase of many large and exotic species from overseas. His major first involvement was when he funded the purchase of two rhinoceroses, in 1937. In 1947 alone, Hallstrom donated 1,649 birds and animals to the zoo, and he donated its first gorilla and its new enclosure, in 1959.

Hallstrom established a farm to produce fresh food for the zoo animals, and also set up a fauna reserve on the outskirts of Sydney, later to form part of the Muogamarra Nature Reserve. His company sponsored a conservation-oriented panel program Nature Speaks, from 1947 to 1954, on radio 2GB, compered by John Dease.{{cite web|url=https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/view_detail/1330 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=14 November 2009 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003082358/https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/view_detail/1330 |archivedate=3 October 2009 }}

Hallstrom was also generous in his financial gifts to hospitals and medical research centres as well as numerous charities. His reputation as a philanthropist resulted in his being besieged with requests for financial assistance, and he was known to take personal interest in the many letters and requests he received.

Hallstrom was generous to those who had fallen on hard times. In 1949, forced to lay off 550 employees of his factory, due to a shortage of critical materials caused by a lengthy coal strike, Hallstrom's company paid their furniture and house hire-purchase installments, until they could restart work, and he invited such employees facing financial difficulties to apply for special help.{{Cite news |date=1949-07-14 |title=FIRM WILL PAY FOR LAID-OFF MEN |pages=4 |work=Daily Telegraph |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248980703 |access-date=2023-04-08}} In 1952, he offered a free new-model Silent Knight refrigerator to replace any uninsured one lost in the bushfires of that year.{{Cite news |date=1952-01-31 |title=Hallstrom's offer |work=Sun |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230099147 |access-date=2023-03-29}}

Hallstrom is believed to have donated over A$4 million to philanthropic causes during his lifetime, equivalent to many times that amount at current values.

Hallstrom was knighted as a Knight Bachelor, in 1952, for his philanthropic and public services.{{Cite news |date=1952-06-05 |title=STATE NURSE INCLUDED IN QUEEN'S FIRST LIST |pages=1 |work=Maryborough Chronicle |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article150184084 |access-date=2023-04-09}} He received gold medals from zoological societies in Belgium and San Diego, California. He also received an honorary Swedish knighthood.{{Citation |last=Tate |first=Audrey |title=Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom (1886–1970) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hallstrom-sir-edward-john-lees-10398 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2023-10-27 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}

He was also the first Australian to be named "Father of the Year", in 1957.[http://www.fatheroftheyear.com.au/content/view/15/41/ Australian father of the year] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321143041/http://www.fatheroftheyear.com.au/content/view/15/41/ |date=21 March 2007 }}

Hallstrom was a member of zoological societies in Sydney (Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales), London (Zoological Society of London) and New York (New York Zoological Society) and was also a member of the Explorers Club and the Royal Australian Historical Society.

He was a Freemason.{{cite book |last=Lazar |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiJ6QgAACAAJ |title=It's No Secret: Real Men Wear Aprons : the Story of Freemasonary in Australia |date=2009 |publisher=Museum of Freemasonry Foundation |isbn=9780646524467}} He was an Honorary Ranger,{{Cite news |date=1942-10-16 |title=APPOINTMENT OF AN HONORARY RANGER. |pages=2773 |work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225124871 |access-date=2023-04-06}} and took that role seriously.

With Hallstrom both aging{{Cite news |date=1951-02-16 |title=Over Fifty? Then Take A Siesta |pages=3 |work=Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248313657 |access-date=2023-04-07}} and increasingly devoted to philanthropic projects, Hallstrom absorption refrigerators became less competitive with more modern designs, and the market for kerosene-powered refrigerators shrank as electrical power reticulation was extended in rural areas. From the early 1950s, Hallstrom's factory was producing conventional electric refrigerators, based on the vapour-compression cycle, with sealed unit compressors, under the "Silent Knight" brand. This type of refrigerator had a larger capacity. However, the company also continued to manufacture absorption refrigerators, powered by kerosene or gas, for its traditional markets in areas without electricity.{{Cite news |date=1952-08-15 |title=NOTES AND NEWS |work=Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119278109 |access-date=2023-03-28}}{{Cite web |date=1 October 1968 |title=Pacific Islands Monthly, Vol. 39, No. 10 (Advertisement) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-327360684/view?sectionId=nla.obj-335919968&partId=nla.obj-327456631#page/n115/mode/1up |access-date=2023-04-29 |website=Trove |page=114 |language=en}}

His philanthropy raised the public profile of Hallstrom and his wife, after 1952, Lady Hallstrom.{{Cite news |date=1952-08-23 |title=One-time Resident Now Ladv Hallstrom |pages=6 |work=Maryborough Chronicle |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article150196038 |access-date=2023-04-09}} She was one of the 300 Australian official guests, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, in 1953.{{Cite news |date=1953-05-29 |title=300 AUSTRALIANS IN ABBEY FOR CROWNING |pages=5 |work=Daily Telegraph |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248695964 |access-date=2023-04-08}}

As well as his involvement with Taronga Zoo as chairman of the Taronga Zoological Park Trust, Hallstrom had his own menagerie on 65 acres of land that he owned at Mona Vale. Hallstrom's collection included a mob of white-coloured kangaroos and wallabies. Hallstrom attempted to breed animals and birds that were at risk of extinction there.{{Cite web |title=Sydney's Silent Knight, 'Walkabout' Vol. 31 No. 10 (1 October 1965) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-751905046 |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Trove |pages=30–33 |language=en}} The land at Mona Vale also produced fodder and fresh animal foods for the Zoo.{{Cite news |date=1952-01-22 |title=COST OF FOOD FOR ZOO |pages=4 |work=Daily Telegraph |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248782517 |access-date=2023-04-14}} There was also another private zoo, housing numerous birds and some pet monkeys, in the grounds of his home at Northbridge.

File:Paradisaea raggiana -Papua New Guinea-8.jpg were one of Hallstrom's particular interests.]]

Hallstrom had aviaries at Nondugl in the Wahgi Valley of the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. This largely avicultural facility, managed from 1953 by Fred Shaw Mayer, later became known as the Nondugl Bird of Paradise Sanctuary. It acted mainly as a staging post for Taronga Zoo in Sydney, either to provide birds directly for Taronga, or for exchanges with other zoos.Peckover, W.S.; & George, G.G. (1992). [http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU9920250.pdf Obituary: ‘Masta Pisin’ - The Bird Man of New Guinea, Fred Shaw Mayer M.B.E. 1899-1989.] Emu 92: 250-254. In 1967, Mayer was also involved in establishing the Baiyer River Sanctuary, set up after Hallstrom donated part of his collection of birds-of-paradise to the Australian-administered government of Papua New Guinea.

Not all Hallstrom's ideas ended in success. An attempt to farm Romney sheep at Nondugl failed, when—after several years of apparently thriving—the animals became infested with gastrointestinal worms.{{Cite news |date=1954-03-05 |title=Sir Edward As New Guinea Squatter |pages=2 |work=Lithgow Mercury |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220826731 |access-date=2023-03-30}}{{Cite news |date=1953-10-05 |title=Papua—New Guinea's Production Promise |pages=2 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18391485 |access-date=2023-03-30}} At the height of its initial success, in 1949, Hallstrom was able to show his lifelong friend, then Governor-General William McKell, over the sheep-raising venture, and host a feast, complete with war dancers, of 60 roasted pigs and tons of sweet potatoes.{{Cite news |date=1949-08-07 |title=Roast pig soon for Mr. McKell |work=Sunday Mail |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98290174 |access-date=2023-08-10}} However, many years later, others did succeed, where Hallstrom had failed, by introducing sheep with genetic inheritance of the Priangan tropical sheep breed to Papua New Guinea.{{Cite web |last1=Quartermain |first1=Alan |last2=Kumar |first2=Vinesh |title=Sheep and Goats in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, A Success Story |url=https://apaari.org/web/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2021/SuccessStory_Sheep_Goats_in-Fiji-PNG_Final.pdf |website=Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions |pages=9–12}}

Hallstrom's adult children had all married and left their childhood home. He and Lady Hallstrom, while not estranged, led increasingly separate lives, as years progressed. Margaret Hallstrom pursued her interests of painting and travel, making a seven-month overseas tour in 1953-1954.{{Cite news |date=1954-05-13 |title=Lady Hallstrom |pages=49 |work=Sun |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230778845 |access-date=2023-04-30}} In his later years, Hallstrom usually stayed in a spartan flat at the factory, on weekday nights, and generally only returned to his home at Northbridge, only 4 km away, for weekends.{{Cite web |title=462 Willoughby Rd to Hallstrom Point |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/462+Willoughby+Road,+Willoughby+NSW/Hallstrom+Point,+LOT+10+Hallstrom+Cl,+Northbridge+NSW+2063/@-33.8126752,151.2052673,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b12aece25a113ff:0xf58fc55cc8931449!2m2!1d151.1991186!2d-33.811737!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b12aeaac83541df:0xd02106ab00d7c9fa!2m2!1d151.2320155!2d-33.8136334 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=Google Maps |language=en}}

Still beginning his work day at 7:30 a.m., he would leave the factory, in his chauffeur-driven car, at 1:30 p.m., to spend the rest of his day at the Taronga Zoological Park. A 1959 film shows him bounding out of his large American-made car in his enthusiasm, almost before it had stopped. He would visit the animals and even handle some of them himself, while wearing his characteristic double-breasted suit and bow tie.{{Cite web |date=1959 |title=Taronga Story |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/150707/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=British Pathé |language=en-GB |type=Short film}} The Zoo was a huge part of his later life, and was something of which he was proud.

In a response in an interview, published in October 1965, Hallstrom said, "The only man who could have told the story of myself and the work I have done is dead, and I have never confided much in others." The resulting article made scant mention of his inventions—other than his self-dismissive claim that he had just worked by trial and error—and made no mention at all of his years of financial difficulty; much of the article concerns the zoos, sanctuaries and, above all, the animals and birds that were the true passion of his later years.

By the mid 1960s, there was an increasing perception that the Taronga Zoological Park was being treated by Hallstrom as if it were his personal plaything, to the detriment of the institution itself and the many animals crowded into what were by then seen as its inadequate enclosures. Such perceptions were reinforced by his apparent unwillingness to relinquish control over the Zoo. Hallstrom declared, in 1959, that his son, John, already deputy chairman of the Taronga Zoological Park Trust, would succeed him as chairman. By then, Hallstrom had already exceeded the compulsory retirement age of 70, by three years.{{Cite news |date=1959-09-10 |title=Father To Son Succession |pages=20 |work=Canberra Times|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103130753 |access-date=2023-04-09}} In fact, he remained Chairman, until 1964, after which he remained a member of the Trust, holding the position at the Zoo of its Honorary Director, until 1966.{{Cite news |date=1966-07-15 |title=Hallstrom to retire as zoo director |pages=2 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107881906 |access-date=2023-04-11}}

Hallstrom become involved in controversy over his long-term stewardship and continuing influence over the Taronga Zoo.{{Cite news |date=1964-08-05 |title=IN NEW SOUTH WALES THIS WEEK The tenacious keeper of Taronga Zoo |pages=2 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105836814 |access-date=2023-04-08}}{{Cite web |last=Chisholm |first=A.H. |date=13 August 1966 |title=Bulletin, Vol. 88 No. 4510, Taronga Park: Who's Zoo? The lifetime love-affair of the far-from-silent Knight |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-683054534/view?partId=nla.obj-683116332#page/n36/mode/1up |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Trove |pages=37, 38 |language=en}} Two state government inquiries criticised his lack of professional training in zoology as well as the extent of his use of concrete in animal enclosures.

An editorial in the Sun newspaper, while admitting that the Zoo was run down and dated, contended that the N.S.W. Government had been content to leave, even encourage, Hallstrom to run the Zoo, and largely fund it too, for 25 years, while they had been neglectful of their own responsibilities for the Zoo and its animals.{{Cite news |date=1 November 1966 |title=Editorial |work=Sun (Sydney)}}{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Esme E. |title=Never say never |publisher=Self-published |year=2007 |location=Richmond, N.S.W. |pages=222}} However, with Hallstrom now in his eighties, it was apparent that his time running the Zoo was at its end, even to Hallstrom himself. According to biographer Audrey Tate:{{blockquote|The inquiries shook Hallstrom badly. He rejected the notion that an ardent love of animals could be superseded by professional training and that "scientists found it impossible to communicate with him". From 1966 he was also under covert surveillance for illegal trafficking in fauna. Four years later, thirty-five people were convicted of that offence and it was thought that Hallstrom may have used his influence to have his involvement concealed. Whatever the truth, in 1968, dispirited and unwell, he donated his personal collection of birds and animals worth more than $20,000 to the zoo.}}

After his donation of birds to the Zoo, only thirty of approximately 900 birds remained at his home at Northbridge.{{Cite web |last=Kendrick |first=Howard |date=1 October 1965 |title=Walkabout Vol. 31 No. 10, Sydney's Silent Knight |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-751905046 |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=Trove |language=en}}

Hallstrom's wife of 56 years, Margaret, died in May 1968,New South Wales Death Certificate No. 19666/1968 Margaret Elliot Hallstrom compounding his despondency.

In June 1969, he married Dr Mary Mabel Maguire, née McElhone, a widow and an old friend. She was a Sydney gynaecologist and the eldest daughter of Arthur McElhone.{{Cite news |date=1951-12-26 |title=Social jottings |pages=22 |work=Australian Women's Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44554436 |access-date=2023-03-29}} Dr Mary Mabel Maguire and her first husband, [https://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/frederick-maguire/ Dr Frederick Arthur Maguire], had worked together in cancer research that had been supported financially by Hallstrom.{{Cite news |date=1951-12-18 |title=Well-known doctors wed |pages=5 |work=Sun |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230835420 |access-date=2023-03-29}}{{Cite news |date=1969-06-13 |title=Judge, millionaire choose brides |pages=3 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131789947 |access-date=2023-03-29}} Hallstrom's second marriage was short, as Hallstrom had less than a year to live.

Hallstrom died at Northbridge on 27 February 1970,{{Cite news |date=1970-02-28 |title=Hallstrom dies |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131689382 |access-date=2023-03-28}} and was survived by his second wife and the son and three daughters of his first marriage to Margaret Elliott Jaffrey. Hallstrom left an estate valued at $1,049,627, reduced to $974,914 by death duty, which was less than a quarter of what he was said to have given away. His second wife received a one tenth share, each of his three daughters a one twelfth share, with the balance to his son.{{Cite news |date=1970-07-07 |title=Hallstrom estate |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110330714 |access-date=2023-04-01}}

Later in the same year that Hallstrom died, there was an attempt to revive the iconic "Silent Knight" brand, with a new model of Hallstrom refrigerator, but it did not last.{{Cite news |date=1970-12-10 |title=Advertising - All you need to know about refrigerators |pages=22 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110443127 |access-date=2023-04-08}} Hallstrom's son John had been involved in the refrigerator business since his teens, and had run the factory operations, but the factory closed soon after Hallstrom's death. By that time, Hallstrom was one of the smaller Australian refrigerator manufacturers, and it had never made other large domestic appliances. As import protection levels decreased, there would be a rationalisation of the other manufacturers' operations, until only one local manufacturer remained;{{Cite news |date=1980-06-18 |title=Email, Simpson seek rationalisation |pages=26 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110962926 |access-date=2023-04-14}}{{Cite news |date=1986-02-22 |title=Simpson in takeover by Email |pages=10 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118206981 |access-date=2023-04-14}} its whitegoods operations were bought, by Hallstrom's early nemesis, Electrolux, in 2000.{{Cite web |title=Electrolux to acquire the household appliances operation of Email Ltd., Australia |url=https://www.electroluxgroup.com/en/electrolux-to-acquire-the-household-appliances-operation-of-email-ltd-australia-1847 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=Electrolux Group |language=en-US}} The last refrigerator made in Australia was produced in April 2016.{{Cite news |date=2016-04-11 |title=End of the line for Australian fridge production |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-11/last-australian-made-fridge-is-end-of-the-line-for-manufacturer/7316682 |access-date=2023-04-14}}

John Hallstrom relocated the plastics division of the Hallstrom businesses to Bathurst, under the name, Polystrom Plastics Pty Ltd, and was involved in running it until around the time of his own death in 1998. It remained a family-owned business, later carried on by one of Hallstrom's grandsons. The company was put into liquidation, in November 2021,{{Cite web |title=Polystrom Plastics Pty Ltd {{!}} |url=https://creditorrights.au/insolvency/polystrom-plastics-pty-ltd/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |language=en-AU}} and the factory is no longer in operation.{{Cite web |title=Polystrom Plastics Pty Ltd, Bathurst, NSW |url=https://www.cylex-australia.com/company/polystrom-plastics-pty-ltd-15187403.html}}{{Cite web |date=14 April 1923 |title=Polystrom Plastics Pty Ltd, 10 Vale Road, South Bathurst, N.S.W. |url=https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x6b11e8dc79e4a413%3A0x2ca6c32bd04015f3!3m1!7e115!4s%2Fmaps%2Fplace%2FPolystrom%2BPlastics%2F%40-33.4332537%2C149.5791902%2C3a%2C75y%2C111.74h%2C90t%2Fdata%3D*213m4*211e1*213m2*211s-GKDYhqOgteXXsfQxlKK6Q*212e0*214m2*213m1*211s0x6b11e8dc79e4a413%3A0x2ca6c32bd04015f3%3Fsa%3DX!5sPolystrom%20Plastics%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e2!2s-GKDYhqOgteXXsfQxlKK6Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwisuOmw9aj-AhX2tlYBHaIKCMwQpx96BAg3EAU |website=Google Maps Streetview}}

With his family no longer centred in Sydney, Hallstrom's home at Northbridge was sold in 1971 then demolished, and its land subdivided.{{Cite news |date=1971-10-08 |title=House sold. |pages=3 |work=Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110680981 |access-date=2023-04-01}}

Taronga Zoo was redeveloped to provide a more natural environment for its animals. However, by 2021, it would once again be accused of having "too much concrete".{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Andrew |date=2021-08-21 |title='Too many structures, too much concrete' at Taronga Zoo |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/too-many-structures-too-much-concrete-taronga-zoo-at-risk-of-overdevelopment-20210819-p58k63.html |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

Hallstrom is now mainly remembered for his philanthropy.

Hallstrom's achievements in business and as a self-taught refrigeration engineer are considered remarkable. Hallstrom had been bankrupted in 1926, at around 40 years of age, after having seen his first manufacturing business go under. After his discharge from bankruptcy in 1932, he opened a factory just two years later, in 1934, which by mid 1938 employed 150 skilled workers and produced 300 refrigerators per week. By the mid 1940s, around the time that Hallstrom was 60, it was making 1,200 "Silent Knight" refrigerators per week. Personal ownership of a successful company allowed him to do much as he pleased with the personal fortune that it generated.

Hallstrom's name is associated with a piece of Australian taxation case law: the High Court's decision that the money his company spent, opposing Electolux's petition to extend its patent in 1938, had not been a deductible expense.

File:2022-06-25 Giraffes in Taronga Zoo.jpg

Although it was reformed and modernised after his tenure, reflecting a subsequent emphasis on scientific research, conservation and education, the Taronga Zoo is Hallstrom's main legacy.{{Cite web |title=Taronga Zoo Sydney |url=http://taronga.org.au/about/history-and-culture/sydney |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Taronga Zoo Sydney {{!}} Taronga Conservation Society Australia |language=en}} There is a memorial plaque bearing his image and a commemorative blue plaque, both at the zoo.{{Cite web |title=Sir Edward Hallstrom |url=https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YEGElKVn |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Collection - State Library of NSW |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Plaques |first=Blue |date=2022-07-05 |title=Sir Edward Hallstrom |url=https://blueplaques.nsw.gov.au/blue-plaques/locations/sir-edward-hallstrom |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Blue Plaques |language=en}} However, long after his death, further allegations of his involvement in illegal trafficking of wildlife would be made.{{Cite book |last=Hoser |first=Raymond T. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/29878288 |title=Smuggled : the underground trade in Australia's wildlife |date=1993 |publisher=Apollo Books |isbn=0-947068-18-X |location=Mosman, NSW |oclc=29878288}}

The ill-advised over-stocking of the Taronga Zoo collection with large animals—its collection included 66 red kangaroos, 15 lions, 12 tigers, 15 giraffes, 38 red deer, 44 fallow deer, and 11 elephants, in 1966—and the need to house parts of the Zoo's collection, during urgently-needed redevelopment of its enclosures, led to the formation of the open-range Western Plains Zoo, near Dubbo.{{Cite web |date=2009-10-07 |title=Our History - Taronga Conservation Society Australia |url=http://www.zootopia.com.au/western-plains-zoo/about/our-history.aspx |access-date=2023-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007085714/http://www.zootopia.com.au/western-plains-zoo/about/our-history.aspx |archive-date=7 October 2009 }} As animal welfare became a greater priority, the new facility would also become the home of large animals from other zoos.{{Cite news |date=1978-01-11 |title=ALL ABOARD THE ELEPHANT EXPRESS! |pages=6, 7 |work=Australian Women's Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57643975 |access-date=2023-04-08}} That zoo is also, even if indirectly, a part of Hallstrom's legacy.

• Hemiscyllium hallstromi or Papuan epaulette shark{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/hemiscyllidae/ | title = Family HEMISCYLLIDAE Gill 1862 (Bamboo Sharks) | access-date= 30 November 2024 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 22 September 2018}}
• Delias hallstromi, a butterfly endemic to the Central Mountains, Chimbu Province and Western Province of Papua New Guinea{{Cite web |title=Delias hallstromi {{!}} Delias butterflies of the World |url=http://delias-butterflies.com/species/group-eichhorni/delias-hallstromi |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=delias-butterflies.com}}
• Pteridophora alberti hallstromi or King-of-Saxony bird-of-paradise of New Guinea (synonymous with Pteridophora alberti bürgersi){{Cite web |title=Pteridophora alberti buergersi (hallstromi) (King-of-Saxony Bird-of-paradise (buergersi, syn. hallstromi)) - Avibase |url=https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=CC531AAC0657C9F2 |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org}}
• Psittacella madaraszi hallstromi, a subspecies of Madarasz's Tiger Parrot found in New Guinea.{{Cite web |title=Madarasz's Tiger Parrot (Psittacella madaraszi) {{!}} Parrot Encyclopedia |url=https://www.parrots.org/encyclopedia/madaraszs-tiger-parrot |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=www.parrots.org}}
• Canis hallstromi or 'Hallstrom's Dog' (former name), when the New Guinea singing dog was considered to be a separate species. It is now more generally considered to be a domesticated dog known to share a common ancestry with the Australian dingo,{{Cite web |last=Day® |first=National Purebred Dog |date=2015-12-21 |title=Hallstrom's Dog |url=https://nationalpurebreddogday.com/hallstroms-dog/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=National Purebred Dog Day® |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Singing Dog {{!}} San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants |url=https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/singing-dog |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=animals.sandiegozoo.org}} but its status remains contested, following the 2016 discovery of a wild dog population in New Guinea (a.k.a. New Guinea Highland wild dogs).{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-09-08 |title=Original New Guinea Singing Dogs Still Exist in the Wild, Study Shows {{!}} Biology, Genetics {{!}} Sci-News.com |url=https://www.sci.news/biology/original-new-guinea-singing-dogs-08826.html |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=Sci.News: Breaking Science News |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last=Cairns |first=Kylie M. |date=2021 |title=What is a dingo – origins, hybridisation and identity |journal=Australian Zoologist |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=322–337|doi=10.7882/AZ.2021.004 |s2cid=233967235 }}{{Cite web |title=New Guinea Highland Wild Dog |url=https://www.nghwdf.org/hwds |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=www.nghwdf.org |publisher=New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation}}

The Hallstrom Theatre in the Australian Museum, was named after him, following his generous gift, in 1958, that financed its remodelling.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Australian Museum timeline |url=https://australian.museum/about/history/timelines/australian-museum-timeline/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=The Australian Museum |language=en}}

Hallstrom Park, on land opposite where his factory once stood at 462-464 Willoughby Road, Willoughby, is named after him. In 1946, he had contributed £3,000 for improvements to the land to allow it to be used for recreational and sporting purposes.{{Cite web |title=Hallstrom Park |url=https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Residents/Parks-and-recreation/Parks-reserves-and-playgrounds/Hallstrom-Park |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au |language=en-AU}} The area closest to the road was known for many years as the Hallstrom Playing Fields, before the area was extended eastward over what had been the open-air rubbish tip of Willoughby Municipality, as the Bicentennial Reserve.{{Cite web |title=Bicentennial Reserve |url=https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Residents/Parks-and-recreation/Parks-reserves-and-playgrounds/Bicentennial-Reserve |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au |language=en-AU}} The factory site itself is now occupied by apartment blocks.{{Cite web |title=Satellite View - 464 Willoughby Rd, Willoughby NSW 2068, Australia |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/464+Willoughby+Rd,+Willoughby+NSW+2068/@-33.8109145,151.1985306,370m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x6b12aece0e328bd5:0x1b8295812b4c7059!8m2!3d-33.8109145!4d151.1991524 |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Google Maps |language=en}} It closed not long after Hallstrom's death, stood empty for a while, and was demolished around 1975.{{Cite news |date=1975-08-29 |title=LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1919 |pages=3468, 3469 |work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220190528 |access-date=2023-04-09}} The site of his former home at 26 Artarmon Road, Willoughby, where Hallstrom first manufactured his refrigerators, before his factory opened, later became part of the Channel 9 studios, later redeveloped as yet more apartments.

Hallstrom Point on Middle Harbour at Northbridge, and the roadway on it, Hallstrom Close, is named after him. It was the site of his former home, Figtree House, which was demolished after his death. Much of what is the modern-day Hallstrom Close lies inside the 2.25 acres of harbourside land that were his former house's grounds, with its private zoo.{{Cite web |title=Hallstrom Point {{!}} The Dictionary of Sydney |url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/natural_feature/hallstrom_point |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=dictionaryofsydney.org}}{{Cite web |title=Hallstrom residence, Hallstrom Close, Fig Tree Point c1940 {{!}} The Dictionary of Sydney |url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/media/5458 |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=dictionaryofsydney.org}} Most of the site is now occupied by eight large waterfront houses, but a portion of 2,803 m², at the tip of the point, is a public waterfront reserve. It still has the native figtrees that gave Hallstrom's former home its name.{{Cite news |date=1973-05-09 |title=SYDNEY'S MILLION DOLLAR VIEWS |pages=8 |work=Australian Women's Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47470708 |access-date=2023-04-01}}{{Cite web |title=Satellite view - Hallstrom Point & Hallstrom Close, Northbridge NSW 2063, Australia |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hallstrom+Point/@-33.8136334,151.2298268,739m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6b12aeaac83541df:0xd02106ab00d7c9fa!8m2!3d-33.8136334!4d151.2320155!16s/g/11bxdv1j1k |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Google Maps |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Hallstrom Point (Figtree Point) |url=https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Residents/Parks-and-recreation/Parks-reserves-and-playgrounds/Hallstrom-Point-Figtree-Point |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au |language=en-AU}}

The southern part of what is now the Muogamarra Nature Reserve was known as the Edward Hallstrom Faunal Reserve, between 1961 and 1969. It resulted from a collaboration between Hallstrom and the conservationist Allen Strom, which aimed to protect a population of koalas on that land.{{Cite web |title=Marramarra National Park, MuogamarraNature Reserve and Maroota Historic Site, Plan of Management |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/parks/PoMMarramarraNPMuogamarraNRMarootaHS.pdf |pages=24, 25}}{{Cite web |title=Your introduction to Sir Edward Hallstrom Faunal Reserve No. 15 |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2986244854 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=Trove |language=en}}

Hallstrom Pacific Collection

Hallstrom donated a collection of over 1,600 rare books on Asia and the Pacific, to the Commonwealth Government in 1948. Initially, the collection became the Hallstrom Pacific Library of the Australian School of Pacific Administration at Middle Head. When that institution closed, the collection passed to the National Library of Australia and was subsequently placed on permanent loan to the University of New South Wales.{{Cite journal |date=February 1998 |title=Hallstrom Pacific Collection to stay in Sydney |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58ed9805e3df28b8a061a6d8/t/6010fd5f0d99bc5fd8bc2a08/1611726177180/Hallstrom-Pacific-Collection.pdf |journal=News Magazine of the Australian Library and Information Association |pages=22}} However, the books are once again part of the National Library's collection, identified by the series "Hallstrom Pacific Collection" that now comprises 1,765 items.{{Cite web |title=Search Results - Hallstrom Pacific Collection {{!}} National Library of Australia |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=Hallstrom+Pacific+Collection.&type=all&limit%5B%5D=&submit=Find |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=catalogue.nla.gov.au |language=en-au}}

Family account

Hallstrom's daughter, Esme Bell, wrote an account of her family, Never say never, self-published in 2007, a copy of which is held in the National Library of Australia.{{Cite web |title=Sir Edward Hallstrom, c. 1960 |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2018.66/sir-edward-hallstrom/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=National Portrait Gallery collection}}{{Cite web |title=Esme Bell, b. 1919 |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/people/esme-bell-1919/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=National Portrait Gallery people}}

Hallstrom gifted a collection of paintings of animals and birds by the French-American self-taught naturalist and artist John James Audubon to President Truman, in 1951, for the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.{{Cite news |date=1951-07-26 |title=Hallstrom Snares A Hat From Truman |pages=3 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18215226 |access-date=2023-03-30}}{{Cite web |title=Collection Search Results - Gift Of E.J.L. Hallstrom |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection-search-result.html?artobj_credit=Gift%20of%20E.J.L.%20Hallstrom |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=National Gallery of Art}}

Two photographic portraits of Hallstrom by Max Dupain are in the collection or the National Portrait Gallery,{{Cite web |title=Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom, n.d. |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2017.15/sir-edward-john-lees-hallstrom/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=National Portrait Gallery collection}}{{Cite web |title=Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom, n.d. |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2017.14/sir-edward-john-lees-hallstrom/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=National Portrait Gallery collection}} as is a portrait in oils of Hallstrom, by his daughter Esme Bell. Willoughby City Library has photographs of the factory in Willoughby Road.{{Cite web |title=Hallstrom refrigerator factory |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/search/category/images?keyword=Hallstrom%20refrigerator%20factory |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=trove.nla.gov.au}}

The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences collection includes a Hallstrom "Silent Knight" electric refrigerator from 1958.{{Cite web |title=Hallstrom refrigerator |url=https://collection.maas.museum/object/156369 |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=collection.maas.museum |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Edward Hallstrom}}

• [https://www.pittwateronlinenews.com/Sir-Edward-John-Lees-Hallstrom-History.php Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom, 25 September 1886-27 February 1970 (Pittwater Online News)]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA6UBKi13BY 'The Icy Ball' - video showing operation of the Crosley Icy Ball; it also mentions Hallstrom's '1923' {sic] refrigerator]
• [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-39543499/view?partId=nla.obj-39543500#page/n0/mode/1up Instruction manual for 'Silent Knight' kerosene-powered refrigerator (National Library of Australia)]
• [https://taronga.org.au/about/history-and-culture/sydney Taronga Zoo History]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6noRf6whyuc&t=26s King Kong - Australia's First Gorilla - short film from 1959, in which Hallstrom appears with one of his animal purchases for Taronga Zoo]
• [https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/150707/ Taronga Story - a short film from 1959, in which Hallstrom arrives at the zoo by car, and then visits and handles some of the animals]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070610051347/http://www.asopa.com.au/archives/Focus.htm The end of a unique institution]
• [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-751905046/view?sectionId=nla.obj-755180185&searchTerm=hallstrom+factory&partId=nla.obj-751909770#page/n31/mode/1up/ 1965 interview with Hallstrom - 'Sydney's Silent Knight', Walkabout Magazine]
• [https://sydneyanthology.wordpress.com/tag/edward-hallstrom/ 1968 interview with Hallstrom - recounted in 1970]
• [https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/120400/ 'A New Industry in the Land of Eternal Spring' - a short film from 1949, in which Hallstrom appears introducing sheep to New Guinea]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkmmbg_M13g Alfred Hitchcock Receives Zoo Gift from Sir Edward Hallstrom - a short film from 1964]
• '[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgMarZlkyE Is the Koala Doomed to Extinction?' - a short film from 1962 in which Hallstrom appears]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallstrom, Edward}}

Category:1886 births

Category:1970 deaths

Category:Australian Knights Bachelor

Category:20th-century Australian philanthropists

Category:20th-century Australian businesspeople