In 1998/1999 it seemed like refrigeration was kind of a new concept in the UK.
I remember stopping at a petrol station on a hot day and thinking it would be nice to grab a coke from the fridge. I mean it looked exactly like the fridges we have at petrol stations in Australia, except it just a large glass cabinet for displaying drinks apparently. No refrigeration.
Same story in off licences (liquor stores). I remember going to an off licence and grabbing a few beers from the "fridge". Except it wasn't a fridge, of course, and the beer wasn't cold.
And a lot of pubs didn't have refrigeration. Beer pumped up from the cellar was usually a few degrees cooler than room temperature though.
I've heard that refrigeration has caught on now though.
Years ago in Australia there was a TV ad for a travel agency. There was a guy standing in front of a microwave, and the microwave went "ping" to indicate that the timer had finished. He opened the microwave and there was a large glass mug of beer in the microwave. He picked it up and took a swig... then couldn't keep it down and sprayed it out all over the kitchen.
Then the voiceover came on and said "Dreaming of England? Flights to London from....".