Today we take for granted the reliable comfort of air conditioning, the mechanics of it often invisible to us. Adjust a knob or push a button and forget about it for months. Air conditioning has been around since the early 1930’s but back then it was generally used in movie theaters and department stores not the home. That took a few decades more to become installed everywhere. In the mean time most of us used table, floor and window fans. As the times changed so did the styling of these metal rotating creatures. From the early part of the 20th century they were stodgy Victorian looking iron, copper and wire units. By the middle of the 20th century they became stream lined stylized steel beauties that reflected the confidence and ingenuity of the times. One company in particular was the O.A. Sutton Corporation in Wichita Kansas. They created the Vorando line of window, floor and table fans. Through my years of collecting I have owned every model they produced from 1950 to 1960. They are highly prized and are becoming scarce. The model that really got my attention is the 1955-58c. Vornado Turnabout Table Fan.
The space age “Jetson” style of the Vornado Turnabout Table Fan is exciting just to look at. The black steel base that supports the fan itself creates an open feel while the inlay of the fiberglass table top features a nice one piece tiled surface that makes for easy clean up with a damp cloth. This atomic age fan moves air like its rocket powered and all the while looking cool while doing so. The Vornado ducted design allows all of the air from the blade vortex to funnel out the front. When used in the upright position, the vortex is directed by a cone to push out around the edge of table.
Today the Vornado Turnabout table fan is still a functional piece of furniture as well as an art form from the mid 1950’s.
Some of the Features of the 1955-58c. Vornado Turnabout Table Fan includes:
- Dimensions– Height 19.50″ x Table Width 22″
- Steel Construction
- Twin Oil Ports for Easy Maintenance Every 3 Months.
- Turnabout Feature Allows the Fan to Direct the Air Horizontally or Vertically
- 3 Speed Operation
There is a very interesting web-site the goes into greater detail about the engineering of the Vorando fan system it can be found at http:// www.vornadotrust.com/
