Anyone into fans??

[vacuumfreeeke]

Hi there. I'm really into vacuums, but I've always been intrigued by fans as well. I don't have any that are really old, but I just bought a Hunter Century fan at Lowes a few weeks ago. I REALLY wanted the Hunter Rockerfeller, but they are so much money for such a small fan. I would still have gotten one if I could have found it at a brick and mortar... I hate the thought of buying electrics online. The Century was something that I bought for the living room/kitchen area in my apartment. I sleep with a plastic Advantage push button fan that I've got for a birthday present in the mid '90s. I've had that thing on every night for about 12 years all night long and for a modern plastic POS, I love it. It's been a true workhorse (surprisingly) and I enjoy taking it apart and cleaning the dust from the motor and blades. I do sleep with the A/C on, but I also must have my fan. The whisper and air flow are conducive to a good nights sleep for me and if I'm at a guy's house who just has a ceiling fan I don't sleep nearly as well! I did notice that they really don't seem to make push button fans anymore. We always called fans with buttons instead of knobs or slides "push button"! I remember when I was about four playing with an old blue Galaxy push button during a storm... a spark shot out of the switches and gave me quite a start. I used to press the high, med, low, and off buttons and watch the blades go round and round at different speeds. I played the buttons like they were piano keys and did so until an adult demanded that I stop. I remember the middle of the front guard looked like a car hubcap. I used to talk into the fans and play with the oscillation pull. What great fun! I remember the baptist church my family used to go to had an old metal antique with a small button on the back of the motor housing and a triangular base. The guards were so spaced that you could stick a whole hand in there... I wanted to stick ministers hand through there after they kicked me out for being gay! But seriously, what's the point of having a guard if it doesn't protect anything. Fans are "cool"... box fans (grandmother didn't have a drier and she was always drying socks over the box fan), stand fans, table fans, window fans, stand fans, desk fans... I like them all. Except tower fans, I like the remote controls, but ya can't see the blades spin! The only thing I require of a fan is for the switch to be on the front of the base where it's within easy reach and sight... I'll not touch a fan that has the knob on the back of the motor housing. I can't stand them! Anyone else have any fun fan memories or pics??

 

[63getelevision]

How bout this?

Vacuumfreeeke, how about a fan like this? It is identical to one we had until about the late '60s. We got ours in the '50s.

 

[scott55405]

My Grandma had the one identical to the one above. She also had a big 20" Air King brand fan. It had a console along the side with pushbuttons for the fan speed, it had a thermostat and was reversible.

Other fans I remember were in a YMCA I went to growing up, there were Westinghouse oscillating fans mounted to the walls. So funny to think of an un-air conditioned commercial building now...(LOL)

I have a later version of this GE fan above that I found at an estate sale, the only difference is it has much more closely-spaced guard.

I also have a cool Michael Graves oscillating fan I purchased a number of years ago from Target. Though new it has a lot of cool vintage touches.

 

[seeitrun2006]

Century Fans

I also bought a Hunter Century fan in June from Lowes. Liked it so much I bought another. We have one in the master bath for when my wife dries her hair she won't burn up in there. We have on in the kitchen to use when we are cooking instead of pushing the A/C way down. I don't like giving Georgia Power any more money then I have too.

Those little suckers move a lot of air. But what I really like about them is it reminds me of the fans my grandfather use to have many, many years ago. Also the small town department stores used fans like that to cool with. I have a fascination with fans also.

Today is so unlike when I grew up and the stores had no A/C. Neither did a lot of the churchs in our area. You just opened the windows and doors and run ceiling fans.

 

[63getelevision]

Vornado Swan

Check this one out, I found it in B.J.s last week for $79.95.

http://www.vornado.com/products/vintage/swan.htm

 

[rp2813]

I have an old and very heavy GE "Vortalux" oscillator in a taupe-beige metallic (you know, that 40's office equipment color) with tan blades. It looks like an old school version of the fan pictured above and its motor housing has more industrial design characteristics of fans from the 20's and 30's. Just recently had to replace the original cord on it because the rubber was disintegrating. Found an old heavy duty round brown rubber cord in my stash that looks appropriately industrial strength. I use this fan in the garage to circulate things in there as its big strong motor runs fine but does have a normal whine to it that's kind of loud in the house. I need to take it apart again sometime for a good cleaning, and to see if I can figure out what causes a bit of a ticking sound in it sometimes. I do have a more modern Patton air circulator fan I found in a thrift store and that one has the control on the back of the motor housing. Not my favorite place for it either, but so far it hasn't been a problem. These will both be pressed into service soon as summer is here and I have no A/C in my house.

 

[polkanut]

I had that exact same GE, found it at an estate sale in '89. One day 2 years ago, I was carrying it down the basement steps and dropped it, boy was I pissed off. This spring however, I found a Zero brand desktop oscillator which is the same size and vintage, and with a metallic green base.

 

[petek]

I have a few but nothing extraordinary really. My favorite is packed away right now, a little Braun squirrel cage fan from the 60's, very modern for it's time and hard to find.
Our old Kenmore table fan is still over in moms basement, they probably sold a million of those.
These two are pretty non descript and boring..
On the left a Manning Bowman oscillator and on the right a Canadian made Electrohome Long Life

 

[peterh770]

I would love to find a Homart belt-drive window fan and a Mathes Cooler...

 

[elginkid]

I'm just starting to become interested in Fans, compliments of Volvoguy87 (Dave, my roommate). I just bought a mid-late 30's GE Cat. 75425, a 16" model, and we completely serviced it: regreased the oscillator, and replaced the oil wicks. It runs smashingly now! He also has a 12" Vortalex like you mentioned rp2813. We're actively working on two other fans at the moment, with four in the reserves. There's a terrible propensity in our household to "share" hobbies. I like fans, vacuums and Volvos now, and Dave is amassing a collection of bikes. Other people who like old things are dangerous companions

Wes

 

[roto204]

Love dem fans!

I love my little aluminum-bladed, turquoise Eskimo fan (a McGraw-Edison product) that probably started life in a Woolworth's somewhere.

I love vintage fans in general--they move so much more air, probably because they don't have tons of grille in front to frig-up the airflow. (Safety? Sticking your fingers in the fan was a vital part of growing up.) That, and they're gorgeous! Find me one plastic thing out there that has a stitch of panache.

I only play with my vintage fans when I'm around to watch them, though--all the ones I have had so far (including an ancient, HEAVY Century oscillator) are extremely pissy if they run low on oil, and they'll start to heat-up, smell, and misbehave. Sheesh!

I just oiled the Eskimo last week, in fact...

 

[roto204]

*

I just oiled the Eskimo last week, in fact...

Never mind. That sounds so wrong...

 

[gansky1]

No oily eskimos around here, but...

I do have a few vintage fans around the house. I had a couple of the modern, plastic versions that we used for drywall dust during a bathroom remodel, but those silly-putty motor bearings couldn't take it and they both died a long time ago.

The Vornado is my favorite - it will blow you out of the room if you're not sure-footed! The hassock fan is a Westinghouse - quiet and it moves a ton of air without the wind of a traditional fan. You can't put your feet on a ceiling fan! I also have a Westinghouse from the 1920's that needs some parts, but looks pretty so I keep it out and a vintage Coronado box fan hiding in the hall closet. The odd part is, I'm air conditioning dependent so I don't get much opportunity to use them...

 

[rp2813]

No Nate, that sounds oh so very right! What could possibly be wrong about getting oiled up? And then what happened?

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Pardon the

I snagged this "you can be sure if it's" fan just last
thursday. Haven't tidied it yet. It's a working two speed
w/oscillitron-o-matic option. The blades are connected just about mid-blade, perhaps an antivibration engineering.

 

[rp2813]

Has anybody ever seen an alchohol-powered fan? No, I'm not talking about a Raiders game. A friend of mine had one but I never saw it operate. I saw one functioning at a swap meet many years ago but that's it. The guy wasn't selling it, he was using its cordless characteristics to attract people to his stall.

 

[polkanut]

Yes, I know what you are talking about. Several years ago an elderly woman got on Antiques Roadshow with one. What was the inventor thinking? DUH!!!

 

[sudsmaster]

Alcohol-driven fans...

I understand that Jimmy Buffet has lots of them... LOL...

 

[scott55405]

frontaloadotmy, that looks like the Westinghouse ones they had at the "Y", and I notice yours has holes in the edges of the base, perhaps so that it can be wall-mounted?