Wall Fans

Jane Evans, an interior designer, came to St. Louis in 1930 and was introduced to the President of Emerson Electric. Evans proposed drastic changes in fan design, resulting in the 1932 introduction of Emerson’s wildly successful Silver Swan fan. The Silver Swan was fitted with an aluminum fan blade based on a yacht propeller design. Aluminum quickly became the standard for fan blade fabrication, however design variation was significant. Emerson then introduced the faster, quieter, more efficient capacitor start motor. Capacitor start motors could be as small as 4” in diameter yet propel a 16” aluminum fan blade.