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Motionair Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles, California 1938 to 1954


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Posted (edited)

The Motionair brand of floor circulator was a creation of Joseph T. Roffy, an inventor and that was awarded patents as early as 1917 for lamps, reflectors, flashlights, magnetic and water filter systems. He also was formerly chief engineer of Westinghouse Nernst Lamp Co. and inventor of the focusing flashlight, the Roffy Indirect. He immigrated from Hungary to the United States, and literally re-invented himself: (Special thanks to Steve Rockwell for the great document!):  

Motionaire 1.png                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In between success early on, there were hard times for Roffy: 1908 -

Motionaire 2.jpg

Motionaire 3.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1913 -

Motionaire  4.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1919 -

Motionaire 5.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1938 - Roffy finally gets intellectual property rights on his new fan concept, but production will have to wait until after World War Two. Los Angeles, California post-war was a manufacturer's fantasy land, with plenty of relatively new factories along with a cornucopia of machinery and materials in surplus abundance from all of the naval and air corp aviation related production of ships and aircraft almost free for the taking:

Motionaire 6.jpg

Motionaire 7.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    An example of a type one Motionair, note the raised letters are factory painted, not highlighted. Images courtesy of the Mevis Image Archive.

Motionaire 8.jpg

Motionaire 9.jpg

Motionaire 10.jpg
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Please note that the motors are at least initially sourced locally, from the Pacific Division of the Bendix Aviation Corporation, Los Angeles, California:

Motionaire 11.jpg

Motionaire 12.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1946 -

656398378_Motionaire13.jpg.970cb834cee2d555a9c9c7e56cf131f4.jpg

Motionaire 14.jpg

Motionaire 15.jpg

Motion Air 1946 - The_Miami_Herald_Sun__Sep_29__1946_.jpg

Motion Air 1946 - The_Miami_Herald_Sun__Sep_8__1946_.jpg

Motion-Air 1946 - The_Hutchinson_News_Sun__Aug_11__1946_ (2018_10_23 04_03_56 UTC).jpg

Motionaire 1946 - The_San_Bernardino_County_Sun_Sun__Jun_2__1946_ (2018_10_23 04_03_56 UTC).jpg

Motionair 1946 - The_San_Bernardino_County_Sun_Sun__Jun_23__1946_ (2018_10_23 04_03_56 UTC).jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1947 - 

Motion-Air 1947 - The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Thu__May_8__1947_ (2018_11_10 05_38_48 UTC).jpg

Motion-Air 1947 - The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Wed__May_28__1947_ (2018_11_10 05_38_48 UTC).jpg

MotionAir 1947 - The_Decatur_Daily_Review_Sun__Jul_20__1947_ (2018_11_10 01_37_15 UTC).jpg

Motionaire 16.jpg

Motionair 16A.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1948 - 

Motionaire 18.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            A smaller version with a carrying handle seems to debut in 1948. Images courtesy of the Griggs Collection:

Motionaire 19.jpg

Motionaire 20.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The motor is by General Electric:

Motionaire 21.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1949 -

Motionaire 22.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1950 -

Motionaire 23.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1951 -

Motionaire 24.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1952 -

Motionaire 25.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1953 -

Motionaire 26.jpg

Motionaire 27.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Note the blade reverse sides are marked "All-Clad 245":

Motionaire 28.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Eastern Air Motors were leftover stock from that firm's "going out of business in New York sale" sale. In 1959, Eastern Air Devices, Inc. was bought by the Norbute Corporation subsidiary of Crescent Petroleum Corp. There were enough motors to supply Motion-Air until the mid-1950's, at which point it seems production of the Motion-Air circulators ceased.

Motionaire 29.jpg

Motionaire 30.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

1954 -

Motionaire 31.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted (edited)

These images of a de-constructed Motion-Air, reflecting it's heavy construction and quality, were kindly provided by Mike Mirin. Note the unique blade design and the City of Los Angeles safety approval decal:

Motionaire 32.jpg

Motionaire 33.jpg

Motionaire 34.JPG

Motionaire 35.jpg

Motionaire 36.jpg

Edited by Mike Kearns
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Posted

Fascinating story on this company and its founder!

Posted

Pretty cool to know.  All of this happened in the Bay Area, anyone securing acreage out here from that time would have quite an investment today.  Seems like Roffy was a real hustler too.

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