Vintage Appliances

[LizzieMaine]

I have a 7 cubic foot refrigerator -- it's about 5 feet high and 30 inches wide. It contains a jug of water, a six-pack of Coca-Cola, a bottle of ketchup, a jar of Durkee's Famous Sauce, a jar of mustard, a bottle of soy sauce, a carton of eggs, a quart of milk, a package of sausage links, a half a head of lettuce, a package of sliced salami, a package of sliced ham, a package of sliced cheese, a casserole dish containing the remains of last night's macaroni and cheese, and the remains of a chocolate Easter rabbit. The freezer compartment contains half a bag of frozen green beans, half a bag of frozen french fries, half a bag of frozen peas, a half-pound piece of salmon, a chunk of deer meat someone gave me, and some ice cubes.

And there's still room left over.

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ The most shocking thing you note is that you have not finished all your Easter candy. Within a week - two at the most - of Easter, all candy has been consumed at the Fading Fasts and any small amounts still around goes into cookies at that point. Candy has a very, very short half life here.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hi, we've been looking to find one or two oscillating desk fans form the '20s-'40s - in fully functioning order - that are in decent (not perfect, but not junk) looking shape.

We've looked at some from VintageFans.com, but the prices were past our budget, so we're hoping that someone here might know of a few other places / sites to look at.

Thank you

 

[1930artdeco]

I don't know about NYC, but try antique stores. They may just need a new cord which is easy to replace. I paid 65 or so which was a little on the low side. Most around me seem to go for about 10 plus on top of that.

Mike

 

[Joe50's]

grey bars are nice 20's oscilating fans i found this one on the floor behind some crates in my great grandpas shop cord was shot and it was rusty but a little bead blasting and paint good as new, i also got a fan restoration kit for it from vintage wire and supply came with oil, felt for bottom, gromets , oil wicks, and 2 cloth cords with plug highly reccomend them i also bought 7 foot of braided cloth cord for a 30's-40's head board lamp and they added 4 extra feet free for doing service with them pardon the bookshelf clutter im currently rearranging furniture

and i got my grandparents 40's toastmaster 1b12 running today i found it wrapped up in sheets in box in my great grandpas shop broke it down and scrubbed everything with water, 000 steel wool and lysol. the only thing missing is the light dark knob but it still can be adjusted with a screwdriver so i set it to medium , had to get used to the faint element smell though as it smells somewhat like the porceliane element in my 30's space heater or an early percolator element. seems to be good quality unlike the modern toaster it will be replacing

 

[Joe50's]

the fan before

after

 

[Fading Fast]

We searched for a working vintage fan (referenced in my above post) on Ebay and found the one below.

The dealer could not have been nicer to work. It arrived yesterday - very thoughtfully packaged - and works fine.

It's a 1918 Emerson 12" oscillating fan into which the dealer said two additional blades were installed at some point. He also said the "overbuilt Emerson motor" could easily handle it----and it does----it's produces a great blast of air when on the highest speed.

This fan's condition is a great example of our favorite degree of patina: we like that it's aged, but doesn't look like rusted out junk nor is it fully restored and "perfect."

It's now in its new home - see below. It blows an impressive amount of air around and is keeping my 11' X 16' office quite breezy and much more comfortable. And just in time -- the temperature is supposed to move back into the 90s in the next few days.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A fine looking fan. Put a bowl of ice cubes in front of it, and you've got quick-and-dirty air conditioning.

 

[Fading Fast]

A fine looking fan. Put a bowl of ice cubes in front of it, and you've got quick-and-dirty air conditioning.

Thank you. Agreed on the ice, and believe me, it's not like I haven't thought about that. I'm sure you've read my posts on this, but we bought a pre-war apartment (and this one in particular), in part, because architects back then designed these apartments to maximize airflow in a pre-aircondition era.

I know this sounds crazy to you home owners, but many modern apartments don't have windows in the bathrooms and kitchen, many only have windows facing one direction and some the windows only open part way. Also, the new apartments have lower ceilings and floorpans that seem to give no thought to air moving from room to room. The large majority of pre-wars have windows in all the rooms, have them on two or more sides, have good internal flow of air, have high ceilings (so the heat can move up) and have large windows that open all the way.

Ours has windows in all the rooms, the windows are large, open all the way and are on the north and south walls so we get really good flow (and the floor plan allows for good internal air movement). We also have high ceilings and, because of the construction technology of the time, incredibly thick insulating walls.

This is our first summer in the apartment and we are really, really pleased. It has been very hot and muggy lately and we've hardly used our air-conditioning at all (and I work from home and am here most of the day). We had one fan that we were moving from room to room which prompted the above-noted purchase. With the windows open and fans going, we have been comfortable on all but the worst few days. And even then, we just turned the bedroom one on to sleep.

Beyond the money savings and helping the environment (it surprises me that with all of the focus on the environment today that this isn't pushed more in new construction as I would think the Millennials would want to use less air-conditioning), it is nicer to be in a naturally cooled room with good outside airflow than a hermitically sealed over-sized refrigerator of a room.

That said, on a few of the hottest days, I have thought about your bowl of ice idea. And we are thinking we need one more fan.

 

[Joe50's]

found this on vintage fans and have to recommend it for a ceiling fan i have one in storage out of city hall building that got torn down they used cast iron and the blades are solid mahoghany almost thought about having vintage fans make a light fixture for it so i could use it in one of the rooms that has high enough ceilings

the ice cubes work well with the amount air older fans move used to do it during summers

 

[Fading Fast]

This past Christmas, my girlfriend's Dad gave me his late '30s dictaphone (with recording cylinders). He has had it since he was at a large paper company and saved it when they shut down the plant he was running in the '70s (he moved on to run another plant).

He knows how much my girlfriend and I love it and, when he saw pictures of my home office, said he knew it would be in good hands with us and in the right setting. And, how crazy is this, it still works. An insanely generous gift that we plan to take very good care of.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Very nifty! Have you listened to the cylinders yet? Secret documents waiting to be revealed?

 

[Fading Fast]

Very nifty! Have you listened to the cylinders yet? Secret documents waiting to be revealed?

We listened to one at Christmas, it was her Dad testing the machine many, many years ago. While he's had it for over forty years, he never used it day to day - he rescued it from the garbage as they were closing the plant.

Good point, though, we should spend some time and see if any of the cylinders have something interesting on them.

 

[David Conwill]

Beyond the money savings and helping the environment (it surprises me that with all of the focus on the environment today that this isn't pushed more in new construction as I would think the Millennials would want to use less air-conditioning), it is nicer to be in a naturally cooled room with good outside airflow than a hermitically sealed over-sized refrigerator of a room.

This may come as a shock to you but we (by some metrics I'm a Gen X'er by others a Millennial) aren't often considered when the moneyed folks are making those decisions since our buying power isn't that great (...yet...I hope...).

That said, I've argued 'til I'm blue in the face with people my age over the merits of leaving pre-WWII homes as designed to take advantage of their inherent efficiencies and nobody seems to get that the era of cheap energy isn't just pre-1973 but also post-WWII.

 

[Fading Fast]

And forgot to post, her Dad bought this ad off of Ebay to give me with the dictaphone:

 

[Studebaker Driver]

Fading Fast -
I noticed your dark green roller window shades earlier in the thread and wonder where you got them?

 

[Fading Fast]

Fading Fast -
I noticed your dark green roller window shades earlier in the thread and wonder where you got them?

We did everything in the apartment with an intense focus on budget (we had to) and sourced and sourced until we found the best value. My girlfriend hunted those down and found a woman who runs a small internet shade business - she was very nice and they were pretty reasonable. My girlfriend is out of the apartment now, but once she gets back, I'll check with her and post the woman's name and contact number.

 

[Studebaker Driver]

We did everything in the apartment with an intense focus on budget (we had to) and sourced and sourced until we found the best value. My girlfriend hunted those down and found a woman who runs a small internet shade business - she was very nice and they were pretty reasonable. My girlfriend is out of the apartment now, but once she gets back, I'll check with her and post the woman's name and contact number.

Thanks!

 

[Fading Fast]

Thanks!

The shade is from (as noted, we had a good experience working with her):

The Handwerk Shade studio/shop: http://thehandwerkshop.com

The owner's name is Linda. The green is "National Park Service Green".

 

[Studebaker Driver]

The shade is from (as noted, we had a good experience working with her):

The Handwerk Shade studio/shop: http://thehandwerkshop.com

The owner's name is Linda. The green is "National Park Service Green".

You are not only delicious, Fading Fast, you are my hero.
Thanks, for this. I've been looking for those for years.
I already have a browser window open - let's go shopping!