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1933 - Before air conditioning came along as we know it today, people relied on electric fans, the swimming hole, shade and ice to keep cool in the hotter summer months. A fan marketer was looking out on the street below during one of these hot summer days, watching people crisscrossing the street and going from store to store. He first figured it just happened to be a particularly lucrative month, but upon interviewing store owners and managers, he learned that the majority of people entering their businesses came in to get out of the sun and to cool off under the electric fans in the stores, not to buy goods. Also around this time, there were many bars and taverns, where there was a need to not only cool the establishment, but to also help circulate and remove cigar and cigarette smoke. Besides a cold beer or shot, there were vending machines designed to keep people in these road houses buying drinks and food, such as cigarette and candy vending machines, jukeboxes for music and pinball machines, to name a few. The jobbers leasing these devices were also in most cases fan salesmen, with sales and service routes ready to exploit. Many other designers and marketers saw the need in the ventilation market for a more powerful fan that would circulate the air around their respective establishments, bringing in customers and hopefully profits. Designer Max Weber was one of them... ------------------ .