Skip to the good part

Saturday, September 26, 2026Est. 2026. Most of what's in here is older.

Don't fix it if it ain't broke

Still Running / Around the house

No. 0028Around the house

c. 1940

Hunter Century fan

Hunter

Running about 86 years

On high, anything not tied down ends up across the room

A General Electric Vortalex desk fan from around 1950, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Not a Hunter, and not the one in the story. — A General Electric Vortalex desk fan from around 1950, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Not a Hunter, and not the one in the story. Photo: Crawdad Blues, CC0. The real one is in the original post.

Grandpa bought this Hunter Century fan in the 1940s. Seventy years on, his grandkid says it's the quietest and best fan they've ever owned. It lives at the office these days, where customers and vendors ask about it. It has three speeds, closer to tornado ratings than fan settings. Somebody asked whether they'd ever stuck a hot dog in it. They have.

It shares the office with a wooden Piper Cub propeller from the same grandfather.

Retold from a post on r/BuyItForLife. Read the original

More from Around the house

No. 0097Around the house

Electric sewing machine with knee control

A knee lever, and a cord you wired your own plug to An old Singer Model 128 sewing machine fitted with an electric motor, on its bentwood case base. Not the one in the story.

An old Singer Model 128 sewing machine fitted with an electric motor, on its bentwood case base. Not the one in the story.

Running 101 years

No. 0029Around the house

Rheem water heater

Only checked its age when the hot water stopped A Rheem electric water heater, much newer than the one in the story.

A Rheem electric water heater, much newer than the one in the story.

Running 46 years

No. 0095Around the house

Singer Model 27

Serial G88: December 1910, electric sometime later A 1910 Singer Model 27 in its oak treadle cabinet, still set up for foot power. Not the one in the story.

A 1910 Singer Model 27 in its oak treadle cabinet, still set up for foot power. Not the one in the story.

Running 116 years

No. 0094Around the house

Door handle

Wobbly knobs, 150 years old, original to the house An old turned brass doorknob on a wooden door in Quebec City, the paint worn away around the grip. Not the one in the story.

An old turned brass doorknob on a wooden door in Quebec City, the paint worn away around the grip. Not the one in the story.

Running about 157 years