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Post by mndoss06 on Jun 18, 2008 16:17:42 GMT -5
I've liked fans since literally before I can remember, probably starting around age 2. Because of my interest my parents got a 52" Crest GE vent and put it on our porch, around 1987 when I was 2. Unfortunately that fan is going to be removed soon, the blades are starting to fall apart and the motor housing is quite rusted, but it's had a real good run, lasting more than 20 years outside on the porch! I remember going to Dan's Fan City a lot in my younger years, and would always hunt for pics of fans in magazines and what not. My interest started to fade away a bit until I found this site. Aside from Hunters and Casablancas I didn't know a whole lot of other brands, aside from the Nutone Slimline (though I didn't know it was called the Slimline, just that it was a Nutone). Spinners have always been my favorite, but it wasn't until joining this site that I actually started to learn more about what many of the fans I liked as a youngster were.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2008 17:15:38 GMT -5
Around 1993, the first Sears Hardware opened in my area. I was there, and remember just about every litex and encon they had (at the time, half of the somewhat small display was made up of lights. When Sears did away with lights, the entire display went to fans, and everything was equally spaced and running. At this point, they also started selling more random hunters, along with the encon/westinghouses.. and by 'random' I mean random like seeing an iron finish original in the display.) I remember when Sears had Emersons and Laskos in the cloud displays. Oh, I miss those days! In particular, I noticed a large building which sold assorted clothing and nick nacs. The building had two floors, and a massive foyer, which had two AB Fasco charlestons on a 30' ceiling, one of them was running and one of them wasn't (these fans can still be seen today). Along with the abundance of fascos, I noticed many many originals, ranging from the late 80s to the late 60s. I think I've seen pics of this place, but you should definitely post all of them! Since I was young, I would occasionally see a weird fan with just the motor, blades, a little tapered switch housing, and large canopies. I had always wondered who made these, for I thought only fasco made fans with dropped flywheels. I eventually found out when I was exploring an abandoned gear factory in 2003. I found one of these fans in a detached garage and HAD to have it. When I took it down, I looked at it closely and realized that emerson made the fan. What types of Emersons are you referring to?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2008 17:17:25 GMT -5
I didn't know a whole lot of other brands, aside from the Nutone Slimline (though I didn't know it was called the Slimline, just that it was a Nutone). Nutones are pretty easy, as many say "Nutone" on the brackets!
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Post by Andrew G. on Jun 18, 2008 17:47:15 GMT -5
What types of Emersons are you referring to? Blenders.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2008 21:46:37 GMT -5
They dont have large canopies, do they? I didnt catch "just the motor" that would have explained it.
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Post by derek anthony on Apr 19, 2009 20:49:42 GMT -5
it started when i was 3 and i went to this restraunt near our house, and they had 4 casablanca deltas that they ran on a very slow speed. i have liked fans ever since i saw those. recently they had a internet cafe take over the building and three of the four fans are gone
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2009 21:27:23 GMT -5
3 of the 4? What happened to them? Any pictures of the remaining fan?
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Post by derek anthony on Apr 20, 2009 23:02:00 GMT -5
they were removed ecause they were rumored to be greasy due to the kitchen, but i think the motor burned out on them because when they ran. they ran at a very slow pace (like there was a another fan blowing on the blades) . and nope i dont have any photos of them but if i ever go into the place i will try to take a picture of the remaining fan
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Post by J.J. A. on Apr 20, 2009 23:54:42 GMT -5
I've liked ceiling fans and other spinning objects every since I was a little boy?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2009 1:28:28 GMT -5
Slow would be bad capacitor.
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Post by John "Rockin" Reed on Apr 24, 2009 11:49:02 GMT -5
Let's see...I don't think I contributed anything to this thread yet.
When I was a kid, my mom would take me into this small local grocery store called "Christy's Market" which had 5 PB Moss WF series (non GE-Vent) all of which had stenciled blades. They could have been Palm-Airs for all I know since they beared a striking resemblance to the ones I have. 2 of the Mosses hung on a lower ceiling in the entry way of the store and they had tassel pull chains. I think my mom lifted me up so I could rev up the Moss and change its speeds. I think Christy's closed in the mid to late 90s. It's now a place called "Turnpike Tommy's Billiards" hence the Mosses are all gone.
The more I think about it, I think seeing the Mosses at Christy's sparked my ceiling fan interest. I, too, loved visiting the fan display @ Kmart back in the day...back when they had QUALITY ceiling fans, mind you.
My late grandmother had an antique store adjacent to downtown Pittsburgh up until 1993 that had 52" 4B 3 PB GE-Vent fans with tight-weave cane on them. They were powered by a variable-speed knob. She would always let me play with them. She had another store in Bridgeville, PA that had an AB Palm-Air top-mount like Clay and I have. Funny enough, the store was located not too far from an 84 Lumber branch, and I was told that said fan came from there. My GMA had that store circa 1986 and that year, when I requested a ceiling fan for Christmas, I was hoping I'd get a Palm-Air like that one (didn't know it @ the time), but got a cheap bottom-mount spinner instead.
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Post by thefanman84 "Elder Moss" on Apr 24, 2009 18:25:08 GMT -5
i miss the fans from kmart,walmart,sears,home depot,west and sooo many from the 80,s.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2009 20:02:46 GMT -5
A local tourist attraction called Cave of the Mounds had two of those Palm Air spinners in the atrium. I loved them as a kid.
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Post by Parkman on Feb 2, 2019 9:09:45 GMT -5
I've been fascinated with fans as long as I can remember. According to my parents and Grandmom, when I was a kid I would go to my Great Grandparents usually once a week I would sit there and watch the fan go round and round. The downstairs of their house consisted of the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Living Room all three rooms had a fan. The kitchen had a brown CEC Georgian, the Dining Room a Winnower in black and PB, the living Room I believe had a CEC GE Vent with 4 blades in AB, and upstairs in the hallway right in front of the bathroom was a White CEC Georgian. So no matter where I'd go I'd watch them. When I was 2 they had gotten a Northman hugger that was NIB that sat in there basement to be installed somewhere but it never was.
There is even pictures of me at one or two at my Aunts house for halloween she had a Bright Brass Delta II and there is pictures of my parents and the group at halloween and I'm staring at the fan even though it was off.
My Mom definitely was the one who encouraged my interest and took me places to look at them. We did not have a fan in our house nor did my grandparents where I spent the most of my time as a child. When I was 3 1/2, my parents bought me a ceiling fan for Christmas. A black Northman 5 bladed contemporary fan which was to be installed in our Garage as our houses ceilings were too low. They had a tape that eventually wore out where on the video camera I asked what time the electrician was coming to install it (on Christmas day haha).
The day after I turned 5 we moved, my parents bought a new house that was a log cabin. It had three Palm Air (Top Mounted ones), an Emerson 1895 Series, and a Moss Great American Oak. I always stayed interested in fans from that point on and have never gone through a non interest phase. There is something about fans not just the actual fan but the historical context of them. The connection to Retail History, quality of them, cultural connections. I think partially part of my always wanting to live in the 70's and 80's really helped grow the interest as most of the fans from my Childhood were from that period of time too. Its definitely a unique hobby that is flares up as obsessive at times but one I wouldn't change for anything. When I joined VCF back in 2008 I truly got more interested and learned a ton throughout the years.
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Post by Cole D on Feb 2, 2019 9:58:53 GMT -5
I'm not certain, but pretty sure it started with Wal-Mart. They had the typical two 36" brown/PB Lagunas in the entrance, and over the checkouts there were 52" brown industrials of some kind with a green sticker on the lower canopy. Also a rotary grille box fan in the garden center. Also the grocery store we shopped at had white/PB 52" Hunter Summer Breezes in white over the deli and bakery counters, which I would watch. And the post office had brown 52" Hunter Originals which I'd stare at.
One of our neighbors had a pink ceiling fan of some kind and a 52" AB six blade hugger in the living room.
Since they could tell I loved fans, my parents installed an AB 42" hugger with schoolhouse light and stencil blades at Christmas when I was 2. That was the only ceiling fan we had and nobody else in family had any then.
When I was 6 we moved to another house, and it had a 36" Moss Caribbean Breeze industrial in brown in my room. As well as a 48" SMC 24K spinner in the living room. Of course I was enamored at that. Those are still there. We kept the hugger but never installed it again. When I changed bedrooms later I got a Fasco Great Room and installed in my bedroom.
I never knew anyone else was interested in ceiling fans and that they had names for different styles like GE vent or spinner, until I found this site in its early days.
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