Vintage Fan Thread

[jmm63]

It's officially summer so why don't we show em if you got em. These are my "twins". The one on the left was my grandmothers, I remember singing into it as a kid. The one on the right was found hidden in a friends attic when she bought her house. Dated 1964 on the bottom.

 

[jmm63]

1920ish GE "WHIZ" fan and 1950's Dominion Personal fan.

 

[jmm63]

Grandma's fan in the window, nothing better than that on dry summer night. Sadly, I've had the windows replaced since then and now the fan won't fit in the window. I built a small "bench" that sits in front of the window and it works pretty good.

 

[jmm63]

Silex Handy Breeze, the Whiz fan again, and a MINT Victor Miracle Breeze with a "draft diverter". It was supposed to keep papers from flying around in an office, doesn't really do the trick but it looks cool.

 

[joelippard]

Here are mine

Here is the "little" Lau

 

[joelippard]

GE Hassock Fan

 

[joelippard]

Turquoise Lau Ultra Twenty

 

[joelippard]

Atlas Aire 2 speed

 

[joelippard]

Beige Lau Ultra Twenty

 

[arbilab]

Enjoying, keep 'em coming.

 

[rp2813]

GE Vortalex

I have a late 1940's vintage GE Vortalex.  Pictured is a 12" (blade measurement) 3-speed oscillating model like mine, but the pictured fan is not mine.  I use my fan in the garage since it's not pristine (but still perfectly respectable), and because it moves a whole lot of air.    I aim it from the shop into the garage area and it gets things circulating nicely.  Quiet as it can be in a large space, it's still kind of a loud motor for inside the house.

 

[autowasherfreak]

Love the vintage fans! Amazing how long they have lasted when the $40.00 stand oscillating fan that I bought last year shortly after we moved into this house is slowly dieing.

 

[whirlcool]

I remember when I lived up north at night you could put a fan in a window on summer nights and have it blow outwards and open the other windows and nice cool evening air would blow in. And those old fans moved some serious air, not like these cheapy fans available today.

My parents had a Vornado window fan. It was in a box like frame and you flipped the fan around to blow either in or out. They must have had that thing for at least 25 years. The photo below is of a fan like the one they had, only theirs was in a gun metal gray finish.

 

[petek]

Nice collection. I'd love to find one of those hassock fans in good condition. I've only ever run across one and it was too beat up to buy

 

[rp2813]

I would love to find a couple of those "in or out" Vornado fans for the two bedrooms upstairs here.  I have a cheap plastic "twin fan" in the window of each bedroom currently, and they're mostly bark with marginal bite. 

 

[jmm63]

I Love those Lau box fans with the controls on the side, such a different concept. They always go for some really high price when I see them on Ebay.

 

[toploader55]

My Grandmother's Fan

Hunter Century Zephair. Quiet and Powerfull. Needs some TLC, but I make sure I oil the Motor 2-3 times a year.

 

[whirlcool]

Those Vornado reversible fans come up from time to time on Ebay. They usually are less than $50.00 or so. They do move some serious air. My parents put theirs in the upstairs hallway window. When you opened the bedroom windows you'd get a very comfortable breeze blowing in. Sometime during the night you'd have to get up and shut it off as the house got cold.

The fan my parents had was a three speed, but there are two speed variants too.
It seems the three speed versions have the fan control on the lower right hand side of the fan while the two speeds have the control where it is in the photo I supplied. And the control is a rotary type with a knob rather than a toggle switch. Also there is a nice sized oiling port on the motor for easy lubrication. My Dad used to put 3 in 1 oil in it periodically.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Allen.  I'm going to keep an eye out for one or two of those fans. 

 

Same situation here re: needing to turn the fans off in the middle of the night due to over-cooling.  I can definitely live with that.  The past two nights the fans have been necessary all night until sunrise.  Should have the sea breeze kicking in this afternoon and back down around 80 as it should be this time of year.