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Thanks, Steve. From what you said, it sounds like the name was gone by '27. I've also been confused by GE's motives with the Whiz line, especially when they seemed to overlap the better fans after a few years, as the example you pointed out. One of the little daily driver fans I have is a 9-inch oscillator post-Whiz, but is nearly identical in every other manner to the oscillator Whiz. The only differences are the three struts were replaced by two mounting wires integral to the guard and the badge has the thick GE logo. The original paint is what I call GE Green and the blade is painted steel. There's no data plate or model on it anywhere. I think this was around the time they started putting only the paper label on the bottom of the smaller fans and of course mine is missing. Guessing it's late '20s, maybe 1930. I wasn't too sure about the introduction date. All I know is they advertised them heavily throughout the spring and summer months of 1919. I haven't been able to find an '18 ad, though I know it was common for manufacturers to "sneak" new additions to their line in, especially if it was done in the middle of the model year.

Introduced it appears 1919. They went to drawn steel frame in 22.

Might be a serial number.

Anybody know when GE dropped the "Whiz" name from their small fans? I think you nailed it with the year 1927... I find no evidence of the name being utilized after 1926, and the catalog art supports the notion that they retired the nickname beginning that year. As for why, I'm not sure in the first place why they retained that Whiz designation when they dropped the cheapest version 9-inch fan for 1923 and offered the two models with switch (non-oscillating and oscillating) but used the old Whiz badges in place of monogram only... Look at the images below; I think it bears witness to G.E.'s wish to drop the Whiz name for good, exact same artwork with the badge reworked... When introduced, the no-frills Whiz cost roughly half the price of the "better" nine-inch fans, so again I am puzzled they would have retained that designation and blurred the distinctions between them... it may have been a matter of the fan and/or name simply being popular. The three-strut cage arrived 1922. The Whiz was introduced 1918.

Hey look, that dog got a Geoge on it.

This was one of the fans that came from the Lehigh meet. I can’t test it right now since I am in the middle of re-wiring it. It supposedly runs according to its previous owner, but only on low speed. Does anybody know if this is the fireball motor? I know there are some motors that look like it but aren’t. Any info will be helpful.

I thought you might notice the shirt! It was the only one there! 😅🤣🤣 I have a bunch of old fan shirts from the many meets I have been to! I have a local gal who is making a quilt from all these shirts! Much better than throwing them away!

All I had to do was blow a cork and post the dilemma on this website and they kicked the package out today back in route. Thank you, AFCA. 7/1/2025, 12:10 AM Released from customs The package has been released from customs.

Hahah! I know some of that stuff before! 😅🤣😂

Words to live by

Since the Lehigh meet has come and gone here are the fans I got from the meetup Dayton type 867 GE 9 inch Vortalex Panasonic F1205 Signal type 1251 Surf oddball with what I believe has a later Air Castle blade on it GE 16 inch polished Vortalex KM Jack Frost circulator Enjoy the pictures!

That is a new one on me.

Now that the Lehigh meet has come to a close, I thought I would show everything I got there. I gained a total of 8 fans, 7 out of 8 currently work at the time of writing this, although they all have their issues. Anyway enough rambling, let’s get to the Fans! #1: Graybar This was one of the fans from the Durbin Table. I paid $40 for this fan, which was probably a bit much for the condition it’s in. It ended up cleaning up okay, but still looks pretty rough. It does run, but the bearings are unfortunately shot (fair amount of up/down play). It also has the loudest motor whine I have ever heard. Its a shame that it doesn’t run better, but still a neat fan nonetheless. #2: Lakewood X-22 This is the second fan I ended up with, which was from a deal with Michael Bouthiller including two other fans. The fan supposedly runs (also supposedly only on low speed which is strange), but I can’t safely test this one right now, meaning it is the only one not functional at the moment. The cord has broken right at the grommet, so I am in the process of re-wiring it. I believe this may have the infamous GE Fireball Motor, but I am unsure. I will make a separate post on it later. #3: Galaxy Window Fan This was the second fan out of the deal, and probably the dirtiest fan I got. It’s missing a few pieces (note the loose screw in the bottom right, there is a small bracket missing for the window panel) and is very brittle, but runs suprisingly smoothly. Runs fine on both speeds and really just needs to be cleaned. #4: Sears (Lasko) This is the third fan from the deal. It is one of the nicer condition fans of this style I have (considering I have a million of these things), and is in a brand name I haven’t seen on these before. The fan is a bit sluggish, but it seems to run on all three speeds. Nothing some oil won’t fix. It’s only a little dusty, but compared to the window fan, this is nothing. #5: Vernco (Made For Sears) This was one of Robbie’s fans from the storage unit. I had initially offered to buy it at the storage room, but over all the noise in there I don’t think he heard me. I had assumed that someone else had bought it until I saw him loading it into his car after the storage unit segment had wrapped up. I was able to get it on Saturday at the meet. The fan was only $5. To the man who bought this fan for me, Thank you. I never caught your name. The fan works on both speeds, but seems to need thrust washers (at least judging by the sound it makes as it runs). Time for a visit to McMasterCarr. #6: Westinghouse 12LA This fan was free from the Bouthiller table (also partially accepted as payment for swapping the blades between two Westinghouse 12-FL-3’s) It seems to work fine on both speeds, although the wiring in the motor is really sketchy, so I plan on redoing that before using it. Other than that it really just needs a good cleaning and oiling. #7: Kord This fan was also free from the Bouthiller table in an attempt to get rid of some of the fans. It was unusual to me, since it doesn’t seem like a common brand. It seems pretty sluggish when it runs, and could use some oil. It is also fairly dusty, but nothing I can’t improve upon. #8: Wizard This is the Last fan I got at the meet, and is another from the Durbin table. This is also the only fan I won from the auction. The bearings in this one are also pretty worn, but the oil helped quiet them down. It needs a new cord, since the one I got with it is way too short. It was only $15 from the auction which wasn’t that bad for one of these. Overall, the meet was good! I met a lot of new people and got some pretty good stuff. I had a fun time at the meet. I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Has anyone seen one of these before?

Mistakenly got diverted to the West Indies.

Wow!,... the Chicago ISC facility is pretty high-tech compared to what is in Lincoln, NE.

How easy are they to take out? Any special tools required? I haven’t yet looked at mine to see what’s what

Was looking at some of my smaller GE fans last night and I've got a couple of Whiz fans as well as a couple that are identical but have the "thick" GE logo badge that first appeared in 1927 and without the word Whiz on the badge. That got me to thinking about when GE made this transition and why it may have been done. Does anyone know for sure when GE dropped the Whiz name? I can find a lot of documentation about when the Whiz line was introduced in 1919, but it seems to have disappeared from printed matter after about 1925, though I'm not sure if they were still being produced for another couple of years without being advertised. Any of you historians know for sure?

Neutral should go straight to the motor windings

New video added.

Will be ordering soon.

The closest you're going get to the original deep black early enamels would be Japan, selective high gloss black powder coat, or the high-grade automotive enamels. My bet is the Dupli-color gloss black acrylic enamel I just posted in intense direct sunlight will show some gray tone. I gave it a try as the only place I could buy it retail in my area was an automotive jobber. And it is over a $10 bill a can. And like most rattle can finishes, it is smart to let the paint cure for at least a couple of weeks if you have used multiple coats. Never say never, but I wait for the day to see a rattle can gloss black match the rich bullet proof deep gloss black goop they used back then. 🙂 Automotive jobbers sell Dupli-Color paint for several key reasons, primarily due to its popularity and broad appeal to their customer base, which includes both repair shops and do-it-yourselfers.

No. But put it right next to polished japan to really judge its blackness. Looks good though.

It's outside in the sun. Does the black look gray? 🙂