The Tragic Story of the Esky: How Coleman Destroyed Australia's Most Loved Cooler

The Tragic Story of the Esky: How Coleman Destroyed Australia's Most Loved Cooler By 1960, 500,000 Australian households owned one. One home in six. The Esky wasn't just a cooler. It was Australian summer, invented in Alexandria in 1952 for five pounds twelve and sixpence. The most Australian object ever manufactured. But on 11 February 2009, Nylex went into receivership. Kerry Stokes sold his 19% stake hours before trading was suspended, netting $700,000. Coleman Australia bought the Esky for an undisclosed sum. 700 workers rallied outside ANZ Bank. Today, Esky-branded coolers are manufactured in China. The trademark sits in Sandy Springs, Georgia. This is the story of how genericisation is a warning, not a trophy. And what that lost trademark says about every Australian icon in the dictionary. This is not just the story of a cooler. It's the story of what a country loses when it stops defending its name. #Esky #MalleysFactory #AbandonedFactories #LostFactories #IndustrialDecline #AustralianManufacturing