"unused" rca radio advertising fan

[brianu]

this is on ebay...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Colorful-RCA-Ra ... 2a1325d895

I've seen this seller's things before, and the fan, I know nothing about, but it looks in decent enough condition... but I have no idea what the seller might mean by "unused." is there some way to verify that a 50 to 70 year old fan has never been, what, fanned?

[gramophone78]

[gramophone78]

Brian, A little FYI for you on these. About 15 years ago or so there was a whole pile of these found NOS. They all have the same dealer printing on them and for awhile all the phono & record auction guys were selling them......pre-Ebay. Back then you could buy one for around 50.00. However, there are a lot of them out there. So, they are far from rare.

[brianu]

50, pre-ebay? I had no idea they'd sell for so much. do you know roughly when these were made? 40's or 50's? or earlier?

I guess "unused" makes sense when describing "new old stock," but it just sounded a little ridiculous, advertising as unused a very old paper fan... so by unused, the seller likely means never commercially distributed as opposed to never actually "used" as a fan.

[gramophone78]

Yes, I think they were 50.00 retail back then. I had one and sold it here about ten years ago for 95.00. They are early to mid 1920's. They are showing the new amp tube and a early RCA carbon button microphone. That's why you see the mic and the tube in the middle. Each pic shows how the mic can be used. Here is the one I had.

[De Soto Frank]

50, pre-ebay? I had no idea they'd sell for so much. do you know roughly when these were made? 40's or 50's? or earlier?

I guess "unused" makes sense when describing "new old stock," but it just sounded a little ridiculous, advertising as unused a very old paper fan... so by unused, the seller likely means never commercially distributed as opposed to never actually "used" as a fan.

They might very well be "un-used"... it looks like solid pasteboard with a decorative lithographed sheet glued to the face... if it actually had been used by an uncomfortably warm person "back in the day", I'm sure there would be marks on the handle from perspiration, and probably some rounding of what were once-crisp die-cut edges... perhaps even stress-wrinkles from the paste-board flexing...

That said, there may be discoloration and dirt from storage...

But, un-used, is un-used....as opposed to "new and shiny"...

Personally, I'd get more excited over an electric fan of similar vintage, but then, that sort of thing would probably not have been a "give-away" advertising piece...

( Come to think of it, I DO have a "Victor" electric oscillating fan, but I believe it is from a Chicago firm, not our friends in Camden... )