Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2016 October 2

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October 2

Electric fans in old movies

Why did they have ?paper streamers coming off them? I assumed it wwas to indicate the direction of the fan ;) but that seems a mildly dumbass thing to need to show surely! Any opinion yodled. _Muffled ^Pocketed

More to indicate if they were on, I would think. In a movie that's an easy way to show they are on, as it's not as simple to convey a slight breeze otherwise. In real life, I see an advantage if the fans are up high and it's not easy to tell if they are on or not. Visible blades is another way. If they are within reach you can just put your hands in front of fans to tell if they are on.

Another thought is that, psychologically, you might feel cooler more quickly if the have a visual reminder that fans are on. StuRat (talk) 13:47, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Can you give us an example of this? I am familiar with this done for demonstration purposes in stores selling electric fans, and in some homes for artsy purposes, but I was unable to come up with a successful image search showing it in an old movie. -- ToE 14:01, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

We think (WP:MEAT alert!) old Humphrey Bogart films like Key Largo and The Big Sleep might be examples... but yes, it's a bugger to even know what a decent search term might be! _Muffled ^Pocketed 14:11, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

It does seem it was a thing; I found a Popular Mechanics article from 1936 [1] which explains how to attach the streamers; elsewhere in the journal, it suggest they might help discourage flies (seems unlikely). Several journals, from the 1910s and 1920s, suggest it is an effective way to advertise electric fans for sale, and others suggest it is a fun, decorative thing for a party, particularly a children's party. Warofdreams talk 19:28, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Good find. Interesting that the Popular Mechanics article gives the method for "Streamers Attached to Electric Fan with Paper Clips" without, itself, suggesting a reason, as if the reason were obvious. Fans of that era, as shown in the accompanying illustration, had much sparser guards than modern fans, and would not keep fingers away from the blades. I wonder the streamers could serve as an additional warning to someone unthinkingly reaching for an object in close proximity to a running fan. -- ToE 19:41, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

The reason is given in the caption to the illustration: it's "for Window Displays". In other words, the intended audience for this item was shopkeepers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.159.61.230 (talk • contribs) 10:30, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

So it is. Thanks, I can't believe I missed that. -- ToE 12:29, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Were any of these fans equipped with a continuously variable control? I know today the ones I've seen come with just a few different settings, high and low and maybe medium or something (I forget), but if it were continuous the user might want something to visually assess how fast the air was going relative to their customary preferences. Wnt (talk) 16:11, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Another thought: Prior to widespread use of A/C, the presence of electric fans could be a significant selling point to customers during hot weather. For example, customers walking by a diner might have decided to go in and order, if they saw evidence of electric fans in use. StuRat (talk) 19:19, 5 October 2016 (UTC)