Anyone here into vintage 20" box fans?

[19and41]

My poor great aunt had a large old Emerson oscillating fan with a sparse guard and a handle on the motor.  She would try to pick it up by the guard, assuming it was off.  We had to rush her to the hospital several times with bad cuts on her hands.  I guess that is why I can't "warm up" to the older fans quite so much.

[twocvbloke]

Yikes. Those first four are so dangerous. The guards on them give me the collywobbles just looking at them.

So long as you keep fingers, toes and other appendages away from them, they're perfectly safe...

Heck, I run my cheap-from-Currys plastic desk fan without the guard simply be cause it moves more air that way... 

[Cole]

I collect fans and have a few of the box ones. I'm mainly into the early plastic bladed variety though. The GEs and Lakewoods with the fat 5 blades and the Hunters with the 7 blades are my favorites. I own a couple 20" GEs, a Lakewood, a 14" GE and a 20" Westinghouse all with the plastic 5 blades.

The metal ones are nice too though and really good runners. I passed up a metal Dominion at a thrift store for about $3 I still regret.

[andre_janew]

Several years ago, when I still lived on a farm with my mom, we had a couple of Eskimo 20" box fans.  They were both two speed fans, but one had a rotary switch and the other had a push button.  They both had metal blades and metal grills.  We also had a three speed fan with the TG&Y name on it.  It was a 20" box fan also.  It had a rotary switch, metal blades, metal grills.  They all sold at a farm auction.  I have no idea what they brought.  At the time, I was too depressed to watch them sell.