Posted 6 years ago
fortapache
(3290 items)
Robbins & Myers was one of the early big 4 manufacturers of electric fans. The other three were Westinghouse, General Electric and Emerson.
This fan was made in the 1920s by Robbins & Myers. The 3500 series started in 1920. This model is the 3504. The exciting change of which I know is the oil reservoir in the lower center in photo #3.
Other fans from this period had brass blades but this had steel blades with copper primer painted black. The brass age was starting to wane and is pretty much done by 1930.
The exciting feature of this fan is that it has a selector switch for AC and DC which is also the on/off switch. In the early days of electricity there had not been an agreement of AC or DC. New York City was still on DC until the 1930s.
Please note this is not an industrial fan. There is a myth that the open cage fans were for industrial use and it is just not true. These fans were designed for use in a home or office.
I love reading your descriptions Fort, with all of your excitement!
Do any of these old fans need rewinding or rewiring to work? Do you do that? Please don't admit to anything that may cause trouble if you are not a licensed electrician.
fortapache,
Beautiful old fan you've got there, I really like it. It sure looks like it's straight from the 20s. Great piece and description, thanks for sharing.
Best regards,
-Jamie
Cool fan...I have many. Cages on old fans were not put on to protect fingers - they were put on to protect the fan blades :)
Thank you very much racer4four. Almost all of them work. A few have ugly modern cords I would like to replace and I have no license but do a little work anyway.
Thank you very much BlackWatch. Once again it is my pleasure.
Thank you very much nutsabotas6. It is DC so it could have been.
Thank you very much buckethead. Also due to the direction the blades spin you have to put your fingers in the backside to get hurt.
Thank you
valentino97
racer4four
mikelv85
TassieDevil
thegatherer
JImam
Newfld
TheGateKeeper
Phonoboy
AnythingObscure
gargoylecollector
BlackWatch
PhilDMorris
Signaholic
nutsabotas6
elanski
buckethead
Thank you
SpiritBear
MacDaddyRico
Caperkid
blunderbuss2
Thank you
EJW-54
SEAN68
oktreedude
Your fan does still have an industrial look to it, which really makes it exciting. Fantastic find !~
Thank you very much Phil. It is a bit robust.
That is very nice fan. Nice information about the ac / dc I always was wondering about the dc .
Thank you very much kehphones. Glad to be of service.
Thank you
ttomtucker
AnnaB