What's pictured above is a Westinghouse fan that was built in 1914 and does service as a ventilation fan in the bedroom of our house. It does not oscillate which is good because the oscillating mechanisms on these sorts of fans does not survive as well.
It was acquired at an auction in Newton, Iowa about ten years ago and thereby hangs a tale. It looked as if it had never been used due to the way the power cord had been coiled up, but we got it home in a series of misadventures that included a rainstorm and passing the ultimate Iowa citizenship test-hitting a deer.
I still have the National Sportsman accordion amp I bought later that day but that is a relative youngster, having been made in 1953..
The fan runs more or less continuously here in the warm months and I put my hand on the motor frame to see how it's doing. When it runs a little slowly and the motor housing gets a little hot I know it's time to give it some maintenance. This usually consists of some high quality compressed air to blow the lint out of the housing and a cleaning and inspection of the oilers.
There are two knurled cylinders, one beneath each bushing that unscrew. Inside the cylinders are two felt wicks and springs which keep the wick in contact with the bushing.
When maintenance is needed the wicks can be cleaned with some gasoline, dried and re-oiled with some 3 In 1 machine oil. The oilers should not be overfilled because that can cause some splattering on your walls and such. Once you've oiled the wicks and replaced them the fan can be run upside down to allow the oil to penetrate and lubricate the bushings, and it's good for another couple of years.
It's a homily on how well things were made in the past and how they soldier on and shrug off the ravages of time. At 104 years and counting this one has paid its way. It's also a homily on the abysmal quality levels of the junk that passes for consumer goods these days.
