Antique Fan Value: Emerson, GE and Westinghouse Brass Blade Fans

Most old electric fans are 1940s to 1960s steel or aluminum blade fans worth roughly $20-75 as of October 2026. The antique fans collectors pay for are the brass blade and brass cage fans made by Emerson, General Electric and Westinghouse between about 1900 and the 1920s: working examples typically sell for about $100-600, and rare early designs, unusual mechanisms and fine Art Deco models can bring more.

The maker, the blade material, the motor and whether it runs safely decide the price. A brass blade fan with original paint and an untouched brass patina is the classic collector fan. A 1950s oscillating fan in a cheerful color is a useful object that sells for a modest price, and that is no criticism: millions were made. This guide shows how to read the motor tag, date a fan by its blades and cage, check what it is worth, and power it up without risking a fire or your fingers.

Quick answer

• 1940s to 1960s steel and aluminum blade table and oscillating fans: roughly $20-75.
• 1920s to 1930s steel blade fans by the big makers: roughly $40-150.
• Brass blade and cage Emerson, GE and Westinghouse fans, about 1900 to 1925, working: about $100-600. A 2018 Soulis sale saw $80 for a worn 16-inch GE and $575 for a six-blade Emerson.
• Art Deco fans such as the 1930s Emerson Silver Swan, early DC fans and unusual mechanisms: several hundred dollars to four figures, with sales thin.

How do you identify and value an antique fan, step by step?

1. Unplug it and leave it unplugged. Do every step below before the fan sees a socket. The safety section explains why.
2. Find the motor tag. A small metal plate on the motor housing, usually on the back or side, gives the maker, the type or model number, a serial number, the voltage and the current. Soulis Auctions catalogued an Emerson with "type 11646" and serial 118295 on its motor plate, and a GE with a serial plate and a 1901 patent date. The type number identifies the model in collector references.
3. Read the badge on the guard. Most makers put a badge at the center of the front guard: Emerson, General Electric, Westinghouse, Robbins and Myers, Century, Diehl and others. Emerson, founded in St. Louis in 1890, was the first US company to sell electric fans, in 1892.
4. Check the blades. Brass blades and a brass guard mark most fans made before about the 1920s. Industrial advances in the 1920s made stamped steel fans cheap to mass-produce, and later fans usually have painted steel or aluminum blades. Emerson's scalloped brass blades are known as Parker blades.
5. Count the blades and measure them. Measure blade tip to blade tip: 8, 9, 10, 12 and 16 inches were standard sizes. Four blades are normal; six-blade Emersons are less common and sell for more.
6. Look at the base and the mechanism. Cast iron step bases and ribbed bases are early. Yoke mounts with wingnuts, oscillating gearboxes, and levers for speed or tilt each place the fan in a period. Unusual mechanisms, such as fans that tilt the airflow with a lever, attract specialist bidders.
7. Read the guard. Early guards often have few, widely spaced wires, sometimes in an S pattern, wide enough for a finger. Later guards have more, closer wires. The guard style must match the fan; a replacement guard lowers the value.
8. Check the volts and current on the tag. Some early fans were built for direct current (DC). A DC fan must not be plugged into a household AC outlet.
9. Price it by maker, type number, condition and whether it runs, then confirm against sold results for the same model.

What is an antique fan worth?

Brass and age set the tiers, and the motor tag and condition set the price within them. The brass fan figures below are hammer prices from Soulis Auctions' Circa 1900 Household Technology sale on November 17, 2018, which exclude the buyer's premium; the other tiers are hedged ranges from general marketplace sales.

The fan that beat its estimate most in that sale, the six-blade Emerson, did so because six blades and an oscillating step base are less common than the standard four-blade fan. The cheapest fans in the sale were the ones with heavy paint loss.

What makes an antique fan worth more?

Is it safe to plug in an antique fan?

Not until it has been checked. Old fans were built before modern safety standards, and the problems are well known.

• Cords and internal wiring. Cloth-covered cords and the rubber insulation inside them dry out and crack with age. Bend the cord gently; if the insulation crumbles or copper shows, it needs replacing before use, and the wiring inside the motor and base may need the same.
• No ground and open switches. Early fans have two-wire cords and exposed switch contacts. Do not run one unattended or near water.
• AC or DC. The motor tag says which current the fan needs. A DC fan plugged into a household AC outlet can be damaged and is a hazard.
• Lubrication. Many early motors have oil cups or wicks. A dry bearing overheats; a restorer will clean and oil it.
• The guard. Wide-spaced early guards let fingers reach the blades, and brass blades have hard edges. Keep children and pets away.
• First run. After checking, run it on low, stay beside it and feel the motor for heat over the first half hour.

If you are unsure, a fan restorer or an electrician familiar with antique appliances can rewire it for a modest fee, and a rewired fan sells at least as well as one with a crumbling cord.

How to sell an antique fan

A 1940s to 1960s steel or aluminum blade fan is a $20-75 fan and sells locally with pickup, because it is heavy and the price does not cover careful packing. The same goes for most 1920s and 1930s steel blade fans at $40-150. List singly the brass blade and brass cage Emerson, GE and Westinghouse fans from about 1900 to 1925, which bring $100-600 working. A pre-1900 fan, a DC fan, a six-blade or early oscillating Emerson, an unusual mechanism or a Silver Swan belongs with the Antique Fan Collectors Association, whose members know type numbers and rarity, or an auction house that runs technology sales, such as Soulis.

Collectors buy from the motor tag, so photograph it first and put the maker and type number in the title. Show the whole fan from the front with the badge in focus, the side with the mechanism and base, the blades close enough to tell brass from steel, and the cord and plug. Count the blades and give the tip-to-tip size. Say whether it runs, at which speeds, whether it oscillates, and whether the cord has been replaced; a fan sold as untested with a cracked cloth cord described honestly still finds a buyer. Say whether the paint and patina are original, since purists pay for untouched surfaces.

Do not call a worn common brass fan rare; it is an $80-200 fan. Do not list a reproduction with no motor tag as antique. If it must ship, wrap the guard, motor and base separately and double box.

Common mistakes

• Plugging it in to "see if it works". Do the cord and tag checks first. A short can damage the motor and the person holding it.
• Polishing everything. Stripping original paint or patina to make the fan shine can lower the value of an early fan.
• Assuming every brass fan is valuable. Brass blade fans were produced in large numbers. A worn, common model is an $80-200 fan.
• Buying a reproduction as antique. Modern decorative fans with brass-colored blades are made to look old. They usually have light stamped bases, plastic parts, modern plugs and no motor tag with a type number.
• Ignoring the motor tag. The type number is how collectors identify the model and its value. Photograph it before anything else.
• Throwing away a dead fan. A seized or non-running brass fan still sells, for parts or restoration.

Say you find a brass fan in a barn

Say you find a 12-inch fan with four scalloped brass blades, a brass guard with an Emerson badge, and a cast iron step base. The motor tag gives a type number and a serial number and says it is for alternating current. The paint is original with some wear, the brass is dull with patina, and the cord is cloth with cracked insulation near the plug.

That is an early Emerson with Parker blades, probably from the 1910s, in the $200-400 range if it runs, by comparison with the Soulis results above. Do not plug it in with that cord. Have it rewired, oiled and tested, or sell it honestly as untested with the cord described. If it had six blades and an oscillating gearbox, it would sit near the top of the range or above it.

How WorthPic reads antique fan photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From photos of the front, the side, the base and the motor tag, it reads the maker's badge, the type number and electrical details on the tag, the blade material, count and size, the guard pattern, the base style, the mechanism, and the state of the paint, brass and cord. It gives an honest US dollar range with a most likely figure, separately for running and not running if that is unknown, and explains which features move the price. It cannot tell from a photo whether the motor runs, whether the windings are sound or whether the fan is safe to plug in, and it says so. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.

What to photograph

• The whole fan from the front in daylight, guard and badge in focus.
• The motor tag, close and readable.
• The side view, showing the motor, yoke or oscillating mechanism and base.
• The blades, close enough to see the shape and whether they are brass or steel.
• The cord and plug, showing the insulation condition.
• Any damage: cracks in the base, bent guard wires, missing parts.
• A note on whether it runs, at which speeds, and whether it oscillates.

When should you get an antique fan looked at in person?

A 1950s fan does not need an expert. Check sold listings and sell it locally, since fans are heavy to ship. A pre-1900 fan, a DC fan, an unusual mechanism, an early six-blade Emerson or a fan from a less common maker is worth showing to the Antique Fan Collectors Association, whose members know type numbers and rarity, or to an auction house that runs technology sales, such as Soulis. For other early household machines see our guides to antique clocks, Singer sewing machines and vintage radios, and for a rotary phone from the same house, our rotary phone guide.

Fans sit alongside radios, cameras and early computers in the same collecting world, and our overview of what vintage electronics and cameras are worth covers the rest of that category.

Sources

• Soulis Auctions: GE 8-inch all brass fan, c. 1901: $200 hammer, November 17, 2018, with the serial plate and 1901 patent date.
• Soulis Auctions: Emerson ribbed base yoke mount fan, c. 1910: $375 hammer, Parker blades and type number on the motor plate.
• Soulis Auctions: Emerson step base six blade fan, c. 1912: $575 hammer against a $200-300 estimate.
• Soulis Auctions: unusual General Electric fan, c. 1901: $80 hammer for a 16-inch fan with major paint loss.
• Wikipedia: Emerson Electric: founded 1890 in St. Louis; first US company to sell electric fans, in 1892.
• Wikipedia: Mechanical fan: early fan history, mass-produced steel fans in the 1920s and the 1930s Emerson Silver Swan.