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Return of the fly fan

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    Posted 2 years ago

    hotairfan
    (385 items)

    I own several fly fans in my collection. They are among the most collectable items that I have.
    For my CW friends that don't know what the heck is a Fly fan, it became popular soon after the civil war and was used to keep the flies off of your mashed potatoes during your evening meal.
    They were often used in taverns, to keep the flies off of the bar food (pickled pig's feet and red beet eggs).
    They are key wound, and they rotate quite slowly. They move only fast enough to shoo the flies away. A full wind-up will keep it rotating for an hour or so.
    So, back to my story of this tower type fly fan.
    I had this fan and shown it at historical shows for three or four years after I got it. It ran well, and the show attendees enjoyed seeing it run.
    My friend asked me to attend a local festival that his church ran once a year and asked me to bring a few items of interest.
    I took this fly fan, among other items that I thought that the fair goers would enjoy.
    I set up 2 tables under the pavilion and I had to level the tables with wooden blocks.
    I was located several feet from my fan when a youngster decided to use my table as a seat. The table slid off the wooden blocks and the fan went flying to the macadam floor and explodes into several pieces.
    I gathered the pieces and took them home where I discovered that the brass gears were destroyed beyond repair.
    I but the parts in a box and thought that this item was lost to history forever. I just could not discard the damaged fan.
    Fifteen years passed and a friend, who collects grandfather clocks, came to visit and took a worn-out octagon school clock home with him to clean and lube the mechanism for me.
    He asked if I had any other clocks to repair. I told him no, but I wish that I could find someone to repair my fly fan. By this time, I believed that no one could find the gears and shafts to repair my beloved fly fan.
    He said it was no more or less than a clock and he could find gears at a clock dealer's shop near his home.
    He did a wonderful job of repairing the fan and in a few weeks I had it back again and it ran perfectly, as well as the clock that he came to fix for me.
    I am so happy that I can show and demonstrate my fan with other interesting items. History should be passed on and shared with others. Thanks to my friend, the fan wasn't lost to history, and I show it proudly.

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    Comments

    1. dav2no1 dav2no1, 2 years ago
      Great piece and wonderful story. I wish I had a clock guy near me to tweak this ol grandfather clock.
    2. AnythingObscure AnythingObscure, 2 years ago
      WELL DONE, Sir! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

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