For me, crickets and the hum of a box fan in the window will always be the sound of summer nights in northern Michigan. Near the beginning of this video you momentarily spoke too close to the fan and it made me giggle. The joyful of sound of children talking into the fan is a sound that will be vacant in the memories of the current generations.
Hi Mike - those are some great summer sounds that you are remembering. Especially up north when you could hear the crickets and birds so clearly with a fan whirring in the background. Thanks for sharing!
I think the reason I love these old things are the good memories they bring to mind. Also the quality is unmatched - not too many things purchased today will be around and still working great in 70 years! I love watching your videos.
Thank you, Kevin. We have taken fans for granted. So nice to see all those fans that have lasted for many years. The fans I have bought since about 1980, for the most part, are no longer operational--maybe I used them too much. Couldn't help but notice the Cavalcade and how organized you have things--a wonderful accomplishment.
My dad was an early adopter of air conditioning, with his 1953 GE window unit in the den. It didn't reach the bedrooms very well, so we had GE desk model fans to run at night. A dark gray/light gray one for me and a turquoise and white one for my sister. They had rubber bushings holding the blades on and that eventually failed on both of them, about 30 years down the line. My grandparents had a GE hassock fan, this huge round gray thing. Its bushings eventually failed too, but not before my grandfather whittled a replacement for the plastic switch lever, out of wood. He was a regular Jed Clampett.
Hi Jonathan! Sounds like you were a GE family! Love that your grandfather made a new lever out of a piece of wood! I love how people who were handy would make things like that! Thanks!
Hi, Kevin! The fans bring back so many memories. I was in Junior High before there was air conditioning at school. Our home used fans until about 1967 when we got a window unit that cooled the bedrooms only. Remember, I grew up in Texas, but we were just used to the ambient temperature and the use of fans! Thanks for sharing more of your collections. I enjoy watching and learning about whatever you bring us. Have a lovely day, Kevin!
Hi Nancy! I think when we were kids we were more used to the warm temperatures because there wasn't air conditioning, and so we just lived with it. Maybe we notice it more now because we are so used to having air conditioning everywhere we go. My schools didn't have air conditioning, but in Michigan we were out in early June before things really got hot. Thanks!
When my ex husband died, my now husband and I helped my daughter clean out her dad’s house and garage. We uncovered a Westinghouse fan, like yours but smaller. My husband cleaned and restored it and it sits on his desk in his garage. Everyone comments on how cute it is.
These fans are like the ones my grandparents and parents had. They seemed to do a better job than current ones and ac do now. Only problem was the finger issue you mentioned. Your shop brings back such good memories
I needed a fan when I started college in 1967. I looked and looked for months for a compact floor fan, without ever having any concept of a hassock fan. I just knew what I needed for a small dorm room. I visited my great aunt in Whitesville, W.Va. that summer and, totally by accident, found the perfect hassock fan in the hardware store. I was too poor to buy a $30 fan, as was my great aunt. I didn't even have $30 with me. But every merchant in that little town knew my great aunt, and she told them what a good boy I was. The store owner accepted my check and off to college in Atlanta I went with my hassock fan. It still ran in my old bedroom in 1996 when my parents died and we sold the farm. I think it was a Hunter.
Good morning! I hope the summer is treating you well. 🥰 I need to catch up on the episodes! We are cleaning out my mom's garage, and I just threw away a Kmart box fan!😆 My grandpa had a very old oscillating fan and we were always afraid it was going to cut the dog's tail off if she got too close!😱
I KNEW you would have a collection of fans (electric and Human) and I love them all. The Dominion was a repaint, they were all originally Turquoise. Yours is anywhere from 63 to 68 or so. I have 2 of them and one was my grandmothers. I remember it in her dining room window in Ecorse Michigan and we used to sing into it as kids. It went with her to her senior apartment in Wyandotte and then in acquired it in the 80's . I still use it and it's in really good shape (wish I could attach a pic) The other I found stashed in a friend's attic when they bought the house, dated 1964. I think I remember you having a Kenmore Roll About which would be the exact one we had growing up. Thanks for trip down memory lane,
Hi Jim - thanks for the information on the Dominion fan. I was pretty sure it had been painted. Glad to know you hare still using your grandmothers! I do have a Kenmore Roll About which is currently in my workshop area. Thanks!
Hi Kevin! I hope that you are having a great summer! How many people remember going to play in the basement when it was 90 degrees outside? We never had air conditioning until I was married. Just the fans. My parents had the whole house fan that was in the ceiling in the upstairs hall. It was supposed to draw the cool air inside from the windows. I still use a fan when I want the windows open. I love to hear the birds! Summer wouldn't be summer if we couldn't have the windows open sometimes!
Hi Terry Sue! It's nice to let the fresh air into the house, especially during the warmer months. I know some people who have never opened their windows. Thanks!
I've been a HUGE fan of Cavalcade of Food for years!! I also grew up in an AC free home back in the 70's. My parents thought that air conditioning in Minnesota was a bit of a luxury. Summer was for airing out the house after being closed up all winter! My dad would always strategically place box fans in the upstairs windows... either blowing in or blowing out depending on the time of day. I loved having a fan in my bedroom window on those warm summer nights, the white noise helped me to fall asleep.
Hi Greg - thanks for being such a big fan of Cavalcade all these years! I can see how air conditioning in Minnesota might be seen as something one could live without. It's nice to throw open the windows and let fresh air into the house especially after a long winter. I still love the low murmur of a fan at night - very relaxing. Hope you're keeping cool this summer! Thanks, Greg!
I grew up in San Francisco, Bay Area and we had box fans when we needed them, but never needed air conditioning. We had the brand Eskimo box fans, they came in turquoise.
Hi John-Robert - you had a perfect climate growing up that didn't require a lot of air conditioning. I think I have a Eskimo box fan somewhere. Thanks!
The Westinghouse blades are Micarta, which Westinghouse also sold as counter top material, My Mothers first cousin has a similar westinghouse She bought in 1952, She is 92 and still using it. Dominion was made in Mansfield along with Westinghouse and Tappan.
Hi Hans - thanks for this. Micarta - I couldn't remember the name of the material. Mansfield was quite a manufacturing town at one time! Stay cool this summer!!
oooo that Westinghouse fan is great! love it. thanks! Screen doors and electric fans......... that's how we survived. or else we went to the lake or beach where it was cooler.
Chicago was indeed a major source of everything electric (appliances, motors, tools), and was the electronics capital of the USA (TV’s, radios, telephones etc) prior to the integrated circuit era of the late 1970s/80s. Admiral, Zenith, Motorola (just to name a few of the majors) were all located within a couple miles of each other.
This is the first time I've ever seen or even heard of a hassock fan. However, I can bear witness that Lasko still exists. I've got one of their box fans running in my kitchen window right now.
In between all of my tours around my house and gardening and home improvements leaves a little time for me to check out all your videos thoroughly at least at this time of the year. However, when winter time comes, I’ll have a lot more viewing time available lol.
Those fans were the best! My great aunt always had a table top metal fan. She would put a bowl of ice cubes in front of us and tell us kids that was her air conditioning for the country cabin. I’m caught your radio hour and enjoyed it so much! Thanks to you and your friends for the walk down memory lane with the fan collection.
I, too, remember my Mom setting up a big bowl of ice cubes with a large fan behind it "air conditioning" our tiny living room during Detroit's humid summer heat. We lived off Michigan Ave. near Cecil St. in a wonderful Polish neighborhood. Great memories !
Hi Joan! The ice cube idea was really something! I know the Michigan and Cecil area well - my dad grew up on Central and we were in that neighborhood often. Went to Risko Funeral Home a number of times for funerals and it was right on the corner, as I recall. Thanks!
Another great video. I grew up on a farm in northern Florida with no air conditioning so fans were very important. You do such a nice job with your presentations.
On the Westinghouse, it's most likely the blades are made out of Micarta, which was a Westinghouse product. They used it in furniture design as well, and for serving trays.
I had a K-Mart fan just like yours! I also had one in avocado. BTW-Fans of fans want to see the “spin down” after the fan is switched off so don’t move the camera until the blades come to a stop.😁
so many beautiful fans, Kevin Our house was built in 1900, and we do not have air conditioning in here. We have lots of fans everywhere 😅 some window , some floor fans 👍 Always enjoy your videos . So charming ❤.
What a great video! I'm so happy to hear that the Cavalcade radio hour is back. That blue K-mart box fan brings back a lot of memories. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and everyone seemed to have had at least one of those fans. My great-grandmother had that same Lau fan, but it was mounted on a heavy-duty stand with casters. Before today, I had never seen one anywhere else except in her house! My grandparents had the same GE wall/desk fan you have on the cabinet over your range. I was lucky enough to inherit it! It's name is Ed, short for Edward Scissorfan, a name it got when my younger cousin stuck his finger into it one day back when we were young kids. Before that day, it was always on a table. After that, it got hung up on the wall out of reach. The way the base swivels totally around to allow it to hang on the wall is a brilliant piece of design/engineering.
Hi neerg - thanks for sharing your fan stories! I love Edward Scissorfan! The reversable base on those GE fans is a great design - I can see why the fan got put up on the wall after what happened! Thanks!
I have to say, I really love your fan collection! The pretty blue Kmart fan brings back memories. We bought two of them in 1975 when I first got married. We gave one to my parents. I think that those fans were used for 20 years! It really was a great fan that moved alot of air. Thank you so much for doing this video! The new fans do not last like the old ones. Except maybe the industrial kind. I sure miss Kmart too! Memories when my kids were young!
So much fun👍! Lots of memories growing up without AC! So maybe I am the only nerd but I remember with my siblings talking into the fan at a very close range and getting a kick out of the vibrating “ choppy” feed back🤣🤣😵💫. Just gave my adult daughter a vintage tabletop fan, it is super heavy! It is called a “ Peerless” ,black , with awesome solid brass blades, beautiful early industrial design. Thanks for the fun video 👍👏
Hi Diana! We did the same thing growing up! It was fun to hear our voices through the fan. The Peerless fan you gave your daughter sounds beautiful. Some of those old fans with brass blades are works of art! Thanks!
Hello Kevin, My family had a 1954 Viking Window/Floor belt driven fan with a Packard motor. I didn't come along until the '70's so it had been retired to the garage where it still ran until I sold it at a yard sale. What I do remember is the attic fan. The a/c would be turned off at night and the attic fan turned on. It somehow blew air to any window that was opened. (I still don't understand how it did that.) As for the round floor fans, I have 2 or 3 in storage. They are so cool. Back in the day there were so many stylish products of the likes I doubt we'll ever see again. Cheers From Coastal South Carolina
Hi TT - that Viking Window fan is quite a machine. I saw one once and it looked very well built and heavy duty. Seems like they put a lot of thought into design and style of common products back then. Attic fans were popular - I think it pulled the warm air from the house and pushed it out the attic vents and so cool air would get sucked into the house through the screens for constant air circulation. Thanks!
My childhood home in New England didn't have central AC. My parents eventually bought a huge beast of a window AC unit for their bedroom. It that stayed put year round. Us kids had box fans that fit in windows. My bed was next to a window. I'd sleep with my head at the foot of my bed, in front of the window, with the fan blowing on my face all night long. I used to talk into the fan for the voice distortion too. Lol
Hi Sondra - thanks for sharing your story about your fan. I think a lot of people used to put the fans in the windows and it really cooled things down at night.
Wow! Nice collection ya got there with a good amount of variety. I would say my favorite type of fans would be box fans with all of the various colors, shape sizes and control layouts they had. Not to mention they are relatively speaking easy to store although they do take up more room than fans lol. Regarding the Fresh’nd Aire, those used Bakelite blades, and for the Westinghouse fans, those used Micarta which I’m pretty certain actually came out in the 1920s. Regarding the dominion box fan, that one does look like it was probably repainted, but believe it or not, I’m pretty sure they were manufacturing up through until the early to mid 70s and at least their desk fans did come in avocado. That wizard desk fan that you have was made by Burstead electric/McGraw Edison. Their desk fans were known as “dimestore fans” because you could get them pretty cheap at your local drugstore or five and dime. They were pretty cheaply made, and definitely weren’t the best of quality, but they are still super common today. Anyways, that’s my slice of information lol. Thanks for sharing the collection!
Born 1963, grew up in Panama City, FL. Nothing but box fans until I was about 6, then 2 window A/C units. Central A/C in jr high school- about 1977. We were ALWAYS hot.
Several years ago, I dug out a greenish-colored Ultra-Twenty out of the scrap pile at the local recycling yard -- sadly, it had been left outside for some time & subsequently gotten mangled pretty badly at the yard. It came home because it was such a far-out design & well... any fan with a pilot light deserves a second chance. Yours is the second one I've ever seen and it's nice to know you are enjoying it! When I was a little kid, my Dad had an old beat-up Berns Air-King top-of-the-line reversible window fan in his garage. It had an interesting beveled shape to it, was quite thick in the center, & had separate top & bottom plastic grilles, divided by a horizontal metal band. I loved playing with its multi-colored push buttons but it probably did not appreciate me switching from intake to exhaust while on high speed. He likely tossed it when we moved from Chicago to Alabama back in the 80's & I'd love to find another.
Hi junqueboi - thanks for sharing your fan stories. You don't see the Ultra-Twenty fans very often. I looked for years but without success. That old Air-King fan of your dad's was quite a fan. I'm sure there are still some out there! Thanks!
Nice Kevin ! My family kept cool with that Penncrest reversible fan for many years. Came with a window frame that made it even more efficient! It really did exhaust the hot air well. Enjoy your summer. Chip.
We have a couple GE death fans as my hubby so kindly calls them 😂 he's more of a worrywart than I am! I really do wish they would bring back these fans with the same quality! The fans now just don't move the air the same way and they're all SO LOUD! Do your fan guys happen to have YT channels, or can you recommend any good channels that show how to rebuild/refurbish the GE fans? One of ours needs some TLC.
Hi bbymks - I think there was a time when manufacturers assumed that most people would stick their fingers in a spinning fan blade. The new fans are much louder - I think it has something to do with the blades. I don't know of any YT channels that are about fixing old fans, but it wouldn't surprise me if one exists. Maybe a search of "vintage fan repair" would help find something. Thanks!
@cavalcadeoffood so loud...and you don't really recognize how loud until you turn it off, then the silence is deafening. I'll have to do another search, it's been a few years since I last looked.
Hi Kevin! You and I are probably around the same age because I too grew up with that EXACT LAU fan in the mid 1960's. Your episode actually made me remember that fan as I began watching and lo and behold, it shows up as the star of the show at the end of the episode - what a treat! Remember getting your face close to the grill while the fan was running and singing into it? 🤣
that was my Ralphy!, he collected classic toasters, coffee peculators,tube radios, and all manner of kitchen gadgets. I should put up shelves, to display some of his collection.. in his loving memory 🥲 21:24 we always had box fans like this in the windows to pull the cool outside air into the bedrooms on hot summer nights. back in the 60's /70's and would sleep soundly until a loud crash, when the fan vibrated off the window sill, and hit the floor. they were TG&Y or Kmart fans, but they always survived the fall without any major damage.... the Ultra twenty looks like it was a super duper deluxe model! WOw Awesome!
Thanks, GothGuy! You're Ralphy sounds like he collected a lot of the same things! A couple of people mentioned how the box fans would sometimes fall out of the windows in the middle of the night!
Since being an average midwest family we had one fan to share and tried to limit AC. Ours was the pretty turquoise blue Dominion. We'd argue who got to put it in their window lol. So one night I get it and we put the window sash down on it. Was such a strong motor it wiggled out and BAM on the floor! Back up it went and then it wiggled its way backwards laying on the screen. Fan ended up being a floor fan. It was good & hefty we used many summers. One night when it was older it sparked flames and he hasn't been used since. Mom was always trying to pitch it asking why I liked it. Its just junk. I liked keeping its pretty paint cleaned. I'd hide it different places protecting it from the trash and I still have it 50+yrs later:)
Hi Olivia! Thanks for sharing that great story about your Dominion fan! Sounds like it got a lot of good use growing up and I'm glad you still have it!
the robins egg blue kmart/lakewood is model p-23, yours is a product of the early 70s, but the p23 was made all the way up until the early-mid 1990s in the ice gray color, was discontinued, then was brought back in the late 1990s under the model name p-25, and the p-25 was manufactured all the way up until lakewood's shutdown around 2008-2009, so that fan was made in some sort of iteration for 35-40 years (1970-2009) surely an impressive lifespan and most DEFINITELY a fan i want to add to my collection
Question: I own my Grandfathers percolator coffee pot that currently is not working. Have you thought about a video on repairs of these old equipment? Maybe resources for help , repair or general maintenance. Thanks the wife and I watch your videos several times a week.
Hi - I have thought about doing videos on repairs, but my ability in repairing is somewhat limited. I have found with some old percolators that the thermostats go bad or the heating element burns out causing them not to work. Thanks!
I come across many old fans at work and the best one's (made in usa) either have translucent blue blades or imitation wood grain on them 👍👍 Galaxy comes to mind for one of the brand names
Those are some fantastic fans! I have a old GE oscillating fan like yours, sadly it needs repair work and have no idea who could work on it. Appliances can transport us to another time. Would love to see the many vacuums of cavalcade. Do you have any malt blenders? I recently got a jadeite green Hamilton beach model 30. Makes fantastic malts! Stay cool with the help of your fantastic fan collection.
Hi Corey - they sure do transport us! I don't have many vacuums - it's not something I collect although I have friends who have hundreds of them! I don't have any malt blenders in the collection. I almost bought a green HB - it was a big one and could make up to 5 malts - but it didn't work properly and it was a project I didn't want to take on so I passed on it. Sounds like yours works great!
I LOVE your extensive collection of everything you have! Is this a store that you have opened to the public?? Or do you give “in person” tours? I have never been to Michigan. I need to change that! lol!
Hi John Robert - it's just a personal collection. It's not open to the public at this time, but I try to share the collection through the videos. Thanks!
Hi Shari - washers and dryers are something I don't collect, and unfortunately there's no extra room. But I do love looking at the old machines - some of them are really incredible appliances!
Isn’t Sandusky the town that, that movie; Swan Song, was filmed? As a retired hairdresser from Marina Del Rey, CA (Los Angeles), I can relate to the storyline of that movie. At least to some degree.😊
and we end the video with a nice lau ultra twenty. a product of the 50s, and certainly another fan i want in my collection, and yes i do have a fan from my childhood that i want rather badly, an early 1980s shell manufacturing company (SMC for short) Laguna ceiling fan, model KB-52. white and polished brass, spade blade badges (similar to what some of the 52 inch union spinners have but not quite), a schoolhouse light kit with a floral globe, variable/infinite speed knob built into the switch housing, forward/reverse/off pullchain, blades being mounted on top of the motor, the blades were cane with pinkish-tan inserts, a plastic beehive shaped canopy, tassel pullchain extensions, and a polished brass ring around the motor, the fan fell in 2013 after being reversed too many times and unscrewing itself from the ceiling (no injuries thankfully) and i wish i could have saved it from being dumped but i was 4 at the time so i sadly had no say in the matter, and i am still keeping an eye out for one now. tl;dr, cool ceiling fan falls, big sad, still looking for one today
the country aire is another lakewood product (dang they keep finding their way to you lol), and is a product of the late 60s-early early EARLY 70s as the country aire branding died off sometime around 1971-1972.
Laying in my bed on a hot summer night. Green box fan tucked in the window Gently blowing over my bed. Windowsill just above high-level. Looking up, I can see the Evening sky; The last of the kids on the block Chattering as they head home. The smell of the night air- cool, with a hint of the woods Just beyond the block, my house was on. My lullaby for 3 years well dad was stationed at the military Academy in New York . (I also remember the fan in the living room-Mom kept it on the floor. My brothers were always putting playing cards through the grate and laughing hysterically as the metal blades slice them and threw them into the air ! They also did this with pencils . The days of learning common sense on your own, with your own consequences.
Hi nanad - thank you for sharing those wonderful memories of growing up with fans going on warm summer nights. I think many of us can relate to those memories.
I have had a couple of fans with thermostats. In my experience, I found that they don’t work too well. They seem to not have a positive on/off and tend to rapidly cycle the fan on and off at the “set point”.
mid 60s* late enough to have the grey color scheme yet early enough to have the metal bladeset turquoise, metal bladeset: after 1959 but before 1964 tan/grey, metal bladeset: after 1964 but before 1967 tan/grey, plastic bladeset: 1967 until 1973, when general electric shut down their fan division.
I worked at a place with a number of vintage fans and one day they all were gone...to the trash, and already hauled away, could not save them. All in perfect working order too. Sigh.
Would like to meat u in person n c your little cottage in lexington area grew up there probably know some of ralphs mexican buddys foleys market in lexington makes the best homade subs fresh big fan of your show we are cut from the same cloth
When my ex husband died, my now husband and I helped my daughter clean out her dad’s house and garage. We uncovered a Westinghouse fan, like yours but smaller. My husband cleaned and restored it and it sits on his desk in his garage. Everyone comments on how cute it is.