The dawn of the modern era

The precursors of the modern fan appeared in the United States around the mid 19th Century, at a time before American homes began to be wired for electricity. There were systems driven by burning oil and spirit, pedal power, spring mechanisms and water. Then in 1882 Thomas Alva Edison introduced the first electrical power distribution system, paving the way for the electric fan,and indeed for all other household electrical appliances.

On the other hand, the spread of the new energy source at consumer level was slow, which meant that spirit and oil powered fans continued to sell on the market for a few more years. The first fans to be manufactured were essentially functional objects. While improvements came steadily, there was no visual and formal element in their development: these were machines created by inventors rather than designers.