Fans

What is it about fans?

Growing up, we didn't have central air conditioning.

 One of my grand parents house had no air conditioning at all.  At bed time, the windows would be raised just a bit, the a monster of a fan in the attic would be cranked up, pulling air flow in through those windows, creating a draft throughout the house!  The bugs outside the windows would be caught up in this vacuum and be sucker into the window screen.  We got a kick out of thumping the big ones to see if the suction would pull them back.

There was a different kind of entertainment at my other grandparents house.  They have this heavy, black fan that oscillated back and forth, spreading air across the room. It was surrounded by a wire framework with gaps big enough to stick things in and we would be so tempted to poke at the blades with sticks and pencils and such, but never did  for fear of the Granddad.  We loved to sing into that ole fan and hear the chopped up echo of our sounds coming out the other side.

Air conditioning kinda changed all that.  The breeze from the fans were replaced with the hum of window air conditioners running throughout the night.

The fans of my youth were declared too dangerous for those with kids stupid enough to put their finger in it.  Whap!  Off to the emergency room they would go for stitches.

The replacement that followed were cheap box fans that created more noise than air flow.  People would set them on chairs and bedside tables at the head of the bed so that they would be able to feel the airflow throughout the night.  One side effect from these box fans was the constant hum that came from the fan blade being boxed in.

These users of box fans soon discovered that they could no longer sleep without one.  Soon, hotel guests were being spotted checking in with box fan in hand.  Wonder how many honeymoon nights started off with a cross breeze from two of these?!

Oscillating fans have tried to make a comeback.  To make them cheap, the fan blades were made of plastic.  Running.on high, it was just a matter of time before the blade attachment would crack and then you would have the enviable crash of the.blades and the wire cage.  Then it's back to the store for a good old box fan again!

I had to laugh the first time some of the inlays came for a overnight stay.  In they all came, suitcase in one hand, and a box fan in the other.  That night the whole house vibrated from the constant  wa  wa  wa coming from all of those fans!

I must admit, I'm still a lover of fans.   My preference has become ceiling fan.  Even in winter, that sucker is running 24/7!