That's what this research was intended to answer: change the fridge doors to what?
At the time there was no such thing as magnetic strips. To seal the fridge you had a rubber seal, and then you had to close the door with significant force. The handles were effectively levers so an ordinary person could provide enough force to open them, and fridges were advertised with elephants standing on them to show how strong they were, and, by implication, how well the door seal worked.
This research was intended to work out what kind of internal release mechanism could be provided to allow children, in the dark, to release the door quickly.
So yes, "just change the fridge doors".
Using 1958 technology - how? In what way? To what?
At the time there was no such thing as magnetic strips. To seal the fridge you had a rubber seal, and then you had to close the door with significant force. The handles were effectively levers so an ordinary person could provide enough force to open them, and fridges were advertised with elephants standing on them to show how strong they were, and, by implication, how well the door seal worked.
This research was intended to work out what kind of internal release mechanism could be provided to allow children, in the dark, to release the door quickly.
So yes, "just change the fridge doors".
Using 1958 technology - how? In what way? To what?