Thursday, February 04, 2010

thrifted :: vintage industrial fan

5_thursday

i have been waiting for this day for a LONG time! today i reveal my most excited thrifty find of last summer. i purchased it in the midst of our kitchen remodel, so it sat in the garage in need of a major cleaning for the longest time. then it sat in pieces waiting to be reassembled by my hubby. finally, this past weekend, it was restored to all it's splendor! i present to you, my vintage industrial fan:

vintage fan

i found this at a garage sale that i wasn't even going to stop at. it was on the other side of town and i had already been thrifting all morning. i was ready to head home when at the last minute i decided to go. the funny thing is, the fan wasn't for sale. it was in the corner of this couple's garage covered in dirt and grime. i saw through it all and loved the amazing star pattern on the guards. i asked if it was for sale. at first he said "no". then, after thinking about it he agreed he could part with it. i was ready to pay nearly anything for this beauty. can you imagine what something like this would cost in a design catalog like design within reach?

the owner told me that he had purchased it at a younkers (midwest chain owned by macy's) in the 60's. it wasn't actually an inventory item, it was what they used to cool the stores! from what he could remember, they were selling 3 of them at the time. (i'm assuming after the installation of an air conditioning system)

i made a call to my hubby where i didn't give away what i found but in which i said: "you trust my design skills, right?" after he agreed, i made a smoking deal with the owners and i went back later that night to pick it up. when i brought it home that night the hubby nearly fell over. luckily he thought it was as cool as i did.

vintage fan

when i say this thing is industrial, i'm not kidding. the hubby turned it on the other night on the lowest of 5 levels and we though this thing was going to take off in flight. it has some serious power.it now resides in our sunroom never to be moved again because this sucker weighs about 150 lbs!

4 comments:

Julie said...

Very cool Lori! (no pun intended) It looks like it fits beautifully into the decor of your sun room.

Cassie said...

150 lbs!!!!! Good lord! That just looks like it's been waiting it's whole life to find you - it's too perfect!

Diane said...

Love it! I'm always amazed at the great things you uncover!

mari said...

It's gorgeous.
But I'm a little afraid to come over there this summer - we might just blow away ;)

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