Big Red

Big Red - in full porch fan glory
As found - side view
How many years of caked-on oil is this?
the badge of an authentic Edison fan
the felt has long ago worn off this bottom plate
beautiful gears and nasty grease
switch or doorway to a rat's kingdom
original electrical plug
inside the fan
Got patina?
contact switch plate and new wiring
Emerson - Built to Last
Big Red makes her debut
Rear view - cleaned up and rewired
Wrapped up and ready to go
Fan-tastic Emerson lives again

We love resto-modding historic fans – especially Emerson models from the 1920’s and 30’s because they are so well-built and nearly over- engineered in their simplistic design. Big Red was not always beautiful. Used as a porch fan for umpteen years and exposed to all sorts of elements like weather and small varmints, this fan was in desperate need of some TLC and a makeover. Desiring to keep the original Japan finish in-tact (or what remained of it), this fan received a complete tear down, new oil and electrics from the stator windings to the electrical plug. Finishing off this fan with a splash of color, Big Red received additional pizzazz through red felt, red/black wiring and bright red fan blades.