Fan for the Ages: Homelite Portable Fan

By Glenn Thompson
Updated on December 4, 2023
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by Glenn Thompson
The fan is thought to date to the World War II era.

The world was in turmoil at the beginning of the 1940s. The U.S. was committed to a policy of neutrality until its ships were attacked and sunk, at which time war was declared against Germany. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the War Production Board in January 1942, causing U.S. companies to shift to the production of materials that would contribute to the war effort.

Although not all companies changed their production, many did. For example, Ford Motor Co. produced B-24 Liberator bombers, eventually at the rate of one bomber every 63 minutes. Lionel Toy Train Co. made items such as compasses for ships. Alcoa Aluminum Co. built airplanes. General Motors made a wide variety of things such as tanks, machine guns and trucks. Smaller companies produced essential items in smaller quantities.

Little-known fan part of the war effort

Charles H. Ferguson of Port Chester, New York, invented a lightweight portable gasoline-powered electrical generator in 1921. He formed Home Electric Lighting Co. (later Homelite) to market his generators to home owners and farmers in rural areas not served by electric companies, and sales were brisk.

In 1946, Homelite introduced a chainsaw, followed by the first one-man chainsaw in 1949 and a lightweight chainsaw based on a magnesium-alloy frame in 1963. In the 1970s, Homelite expanded its offerings to include lawn and garden products such as string trimmers, leaf blowers and hedge trimmers.

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