Electric Fan Manufacturer
An electric fan manufacturer is a company that makes fans. Some companies offer premium fans, while others focus on offering affordable products. Some companies also sell decorative fans.
When World War One started the Diehl Company took a hit and moved their fan and small motor production to a concern called Woodard.
History of Electric Fans
Electric fans have come a long way from the first ones that were used to cool people in 19th century Egypt and China. Schuyler Skaats Wheeler patented his first electrical fan in 1882 and also invented an electric fire engine design. Around the same time Philip Diehl patented his split-ball swivel joint for ceiling fans and Louis Stein added a gear driven oscillator. By 1910 most makers were using rounded edge blades and the motor was generally enclosed and smaller in size.
By the 1950s demand for electric fans was high but this changed when household air conditioning came along and demand dropped dramatically. In the 1970s energy prices rose and demand increased once again for electric fans.
In 1952 Yung Yau (Weng You , 1924-2004) started Shell to manufacture electric fans in Hong Kong. His company was based at Lin Fa Kung Temple Street West in Causeway Bay. Yung was also an active philanthropist serving as the chairman of Tung Wah, the Shun Tak Fraternal Association and Jardines Lookout Residents Association among others. He was a pioneer of the electric fan industry in HK and Shell’s SMC brand became known worldwide. Shell’s yearly production by 1976 was over 6 million fans and the firm sold them in 99 countries and territories. By the time Yung died in 2004 the company employed more than 8200 workers.
History of Diehl
By 1912-13 the Diehl factory was running out of space electric fan manufacturer and their fan making tools were worn out. Singer refused to let them expand but they decided to go ahead and build a new factory which would house only their fan division and small motor branch. They moved into this new factory in January 1914.
By 1914 the war was raging and the overseas markets for their fans were drying up. The year end ledgers for that year show they lost money on the fans they made. They apparently bit off more than they could chew and rolled the dice on a large new factory with very little financial backing.
In 1942 an intense air raid destroys part of the production plant on Stephanstrasse in Elizabeth. The following year the entire company is relocated to Finderne to handle the war time orders.
After the war, Diehl resumed their normal production and branched out to make many different electrical products including electric fans. Their large fans were sold under the name of Airmaster and are still being made today in Jackson Michigan.
In 1998 Karl Diehl decides to rename the company Diehl Stiftung and shift to a more family controlled structure. He appoints a supervisory board that includes family members as well as external members to focus on achieving successful financial targets.
History of Eck and Fan
Around 1907 Eck established Motorfabriken Eck in Patrille Sweden, located along the rail line as he was thinking ahead to exporting. In ’07 and ’08 he also incorporated Eck Dynamo and Motor in the US. Eck was no longer listed in the New Jersey industrial directories by ’24 and we know that his factory in Sweden went up in smoke in that year.
One of Eck’s early models was a gear driven oscillator called the “kidney oscillator” because of the shape of the small gear on the back of the fan motor that would engage the arc of the oscillation. GE had been making their own gear driven oscillators for a while at this point so Eck was playing catch up.
Eck would continue to make fans into the 20s and 30s, but by this time he was not a leader in the market. He did however have some stylish and deco fans in the lineup.
In the late teens Eck introduced his first overlapping blade model. They were very quiet and efficient and were a popular choice in the new home of the middle class. Around this same period of time R&M began to be known as an innovative manufacturer of electric motors. They supplied motors for the delicate Norden bombsight and other precision equipment needed by Allied forces in WWII.
History of F. A. Smith
The F. A. Smith Company (also known electric fan factory as FASCO) was founded in 1911, originally making accessories for automobiles. They turned to fans in 1933 and soon became the dominant American manufacturer of fractional horsepower-driven fans, a position they hold today. They produced a number of different brands, including Arctic-Aire, Royal Rochester, Spartan, and Viking. In 1948, the company changed its name to FASCO.
One of the company’s first electric fans was the lollipop fan, which Samuels patented in 1903. According to DT Vintage Fans, this type of fan features flexible blades that move and bend when the fan is operated. Despite the flexibility of the blades, Samuels claimed that they still resembled the conventional fan shape when not in motion. In addition to the lollipop fan, F. A. Smith manufactured a variety of other types of electric fans, including desk and industrial fans.
Before joining Mueller’s team, Smith worked as an assistant district attorney in New York and then as an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He prosecuted a variety of cases, from civil rights violations to murders of police officers. He also handled several high-profile political corruption cases, most notably the case of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. According to his former colleague, Breuer, he is “fearless but fair” and doesn’t get bogged down by bureaucracy.
