JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques JPF Trading Post GRANDFATHER CLOCKS...CURIO CABINETS....VINTAGE ELECTRIC FANS....

What can I say...my Day Job makes me LOTS more loot than my Music Mania..(so I may as well Mention It)..& Who Knows...Maybe You're In The Market?

IF you check out "HowardMiller.com" you can see their Entire Catalogue of Clocks...& Curio Cabs..Online. THEN call me at 813-240-0301 or 813-876-2707 (Because Over the Internet the BEST Discount ALLOWED is 33%/I'll be able to do BETTER over the phone.)

Think Bulova.com may also have an online catalogue...& maybe hermle.com as well... We've been at the Clock Biz over 30 years, ship all over the planet. AND..we're Good At It.

My Other "Hobby" (besides 25 years at Songwriting) is Early Electric Fans..I buy/sell 'em..have over 1K of em in my collection..GIVE 'Em to Folks who Help My Music Career (Brian's got one...Jim Stafford, too..et al)..&..if ya need that Really DIFFERENT Guy-Gift, just give me a call! (Restored Oldies run $50-150, on average. Some Oscillate, (many never-did.) Some have Brass Blades. Younger-than-1929 don't. Pre-1925, with Brass Cages & Blades, Restored, run $300 & up. (Sorry..but they're LOTS of work to restore..compared to the others.)

I'm also a collector of Old Pencil Sharpeners..& the Occasional Old Typewriter..& have lotsa fun trading 'em.

Need a Lyric or Two...Check out Lyrics Boards 1..2..3..here & let's Talk! Ditto on the Clocks, Cabinets & Fans! Thanks for your Time, Patient Reader!

Best Wishes,
Stan Good

<www.CDBaby.com/TampaStan>

I can vouch for the coolness of Stan's fans. I have one in my office as I type this. Beautiful as an art piece. I always have the AC cranked, so I don't usually have it on, but it looks so great in an Art Deco sort of way, that I have it here anyway. = )

Brian

Thanks "Satisfied Customer #1"..heh!

Lemmie Thank Ya In-Return for coming up with SUCH a Great Organization & Website! Always Start My Day Off with a Li'l Visit Here! Great Folks..Great Songs..Great Inspiration!

From onea Your Biggest Fans... ;-)>
Big Guy-Hug,
Stan

Yeah I have one too. Stan kindly gave me one at Pinefest a few years back. I too have it in my office and get comments on it's "retro" look.


So by all means, go for one before they're all gone!

Whee..THANKS BurleyBuddy for the Kind Testimonial..heh-heh!

(Now if I can just get Susan Gibson & Jim Stafford to phone in here, maybe the Orders'll come Rushin' In..heh-heh!)

Fans...like Clocks..are a great blend of Science & Art. I get a real kick out of restoring them, 'cuz what we preserve Now is what folks'll have LEFT to remember..down the pike.

Clocks..even when non-running..often got saved Up In The Attic. Fans weren't so lucky. Thus, the Early Ones are all Quite Rare.
Here's a wee bit of Insight, No Extra Charge:

Abraham Lincoln is considered the Father of The Mechanical Fan.
Because...his Emancipation Proclamation freed America's Slave Population. Suddenly, Southern White America could No Longer Trust that trusty servant with a Fly Whisk to keep the bugs away.

America's Clockmakers came to The Rescue. (Keep in mind Screen Windows weren't invented 'til 1880, so for 20 years in the Summer, when ya opened your windows to cool things off, you had a Fly Problem.) Clockworks powered crude "Rotisseries" back to Medieval Times..turned your Roasting Meat while ya baked it in front of your fireplace. The French improved upon these gadgets, so it eventually had a Mainspring in place of a Descending-Rock to power it. We turned this rig upside-down so the Governor rotated on Top...added a pair of Cheesecloth-covered BLADES that resembled Flyswatters..and the Shoo-Fly Fan was invented.

Ya wound this concoction up & put it in the middle of your dining room table for meals...& by your baby's Crib..etc...whenever ya wanted an hour-&-a-Half of fly-free space...per-winding. 90 Patents were issued on various types of these rather hard-to-find nowadays Objects.

In the 1890's, Water-Power replaced the Spring-Driven Mechanisms.
The "Belt-Driven" Ceiling Fans were originally driven by a small water turbine "motor"..invented by a Frenchman named Pelotte. Table & Floor fans also arrived, ya ran your garden hose in, & water was "Free" as long as ya paid your city taxes. A second hose ran the water "Out" to the backyard..or a drain. You could hook your sink's tap up to a small turbine & get electricity generated, too...tho battery-power was the Most Popular back then.

Anyways, Electricity nudged water power out by the late 1890's...tho it took the US 'til 1933 to decide The Standard would be 110-115V 60 Cycles AC. Water-Fans were reportedly made Illegal..in order to keep city water pressure up enough to put fires out...so they, too, are very rate these days. Dayton and Hunter both got their start making Water Fans..then segued into Electrically-Powered. Both are still in biz today..tho Hunter got bought up by Robbins & Myers in the 1960's.

The entire History of the Electric Motor can be traced thru Old Electric Fans...it was the Easiest Appliance ya could make from one. Earliest is believed to have originated in the 1840's..
Edison invented several...(I have a spare one from 1890's..$2K..if anyone's interested.) GE's first came in 1894..& their "Logo" was first used on a fan cage in 1898.

The REAL Old Ones are among the most interesting..(Just Rich Folks had Electricity...& wouldn't buy junk.) So many of these 1900 & Earlier beauts are designed to go 200 yrs+, heavy cast iron/solid brass throughout/pinstriped & Fancy! Also 4-digits & up, nowadays.

The Teens-thru-mid-20's Fans have more-reliable motors (usually), and this vintage's oscillators have a far-better chance of being Trouble-Free. Victorian & Art Nouveau Styling gives way to Deco and Machine Age as the 30's & 40's arrive. Cast Iron disappears as Stamped Steel makes fans Lighter & easier to mass-produce.

The 30's saw "Streamlining" and Floor Fans (And Aluminum & Chrome) become commonplace. Also 1/4 HP Big "Air Circulator" Floor Fans..before Air-Conditioning becomes commonplace & they mostly disappear in mid '50's.

By the 1980's, when GE sold their Small Appliance Division to Black & Decker/ceased Fan Production...the Era of Collectible American Fans prettymuch grinds to a halt.

But...it's great fun to crank up one of the many "Survivors"..& see how great we were at supplying a Product that fulfilled a need all over the globe. (Ya might say We've Kept Our Cool!)

Best Wishes,
Ol' Stan

Hi, Stan! I just read your mini-history of fans. Very cool. LOL. Cool. Fans. I just now got my own unintentional pun. Do you have a regular website for your clock and fan businesses?

HIDee Mz Jeannie B!

USED to have one at FreeYellow...then they started Chargin' $15-a-Month & we took it off. Also...Major Suppliers like Howard Miller now make ya get a Dealer Number + OK to sell Online...AND ya can ONLY discount Up To 1/3 off. OR they kill your Business.

So...we hope folks get their Prices Elsewhere...THEN give us a Phone Call...(813)-876-2707..& we'll give ya a Quote that usually results in a sale. (We pay the Freight, too.)

Fans have tapered-off to practically nill..Clock Sales are at an alltime Low..due to The Economy. I've got Both Shop Bldgs Up-For-Sale, am Officially "Retiring" & Off to Travel when they finally do sell. But...I can (so far) STILL come up with some Bargains..& perhaps as I'm working, part-time, outta my House we're keeping as "The Retirement House", I can still come up with Whatever Ya Want. I expect to be Repairing Clocks the rest of my days..unless, unlikely as it is at My Advancing Age, I get some Musical Hits out there.

Tampa's Museum of Science & Industry's interested in a Fan Exhibit..but has to hunt-up a Corporate Sponsor. I'm saddled with Storing 1500 Fans I collected that are about to be "Homeless"...will probably photo & catalogue 'em when I'm "Retired" & finally write the Book on 'em I was SUPPOSED to do for Schiffler Publishing back in '99..when I procrastinated on it & got back into Songwriting. (I balked 'cuz my Photog Chum lost his job at Disney/couldn't take the 800 pics they wanted/I didn't really have the time....back then.) Might...soon.

Anyhews, got time of your own, come visit us in Tampa while the Biz is still goin'..full-tilt..at the Kennedy/MacDill Intersection..Open 12:30-6, Tues-Sat. (There's about 600 Fans on-display in the Clock Shop..heh..& ya get a Crash Course in Fan Development at the Slightest Mention of Their "Coolness"..) ;-)>

Best Wishes & a Big Hug,
Ol' Stan

I ought to get some of them fans. Then I'd have, well, fans.

Joe

HiYa Bro Joe~!

Yeah, I allus get a kick outta (Truthfully) sayin' "I got over 1600 Fans"...heh!

Some of which are Real COOL, too!

The First 500 are the toughest...on a Marriage--

Good Luck & Happy Huntin', Amigo!
Big Guy-Hug,
Stan