Vornado is an American firm based in

Andover, Kansas Andover is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States, and a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,892. Andover is the most populated city in Butler County. History 19th century When the Kansas ...

, that designs and manufactures household fans and other small appliances related to air circulation. The current incarnation of the company was founded in 1989, two years after the death of Ralph K. Odor (1895-1987), who founded the firm in the 1930s with Ottis A. Sutton in Wichita. The name of the company is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

History

Ralph K. Odor experimented with different designs to improve airplane propellers in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, Odor met Ottis A. Sutton and the two men continued to experiment with different designs for propellers and were granted several patents. Odor and Sutton realized the propeller designs could also be applied to household fans, and after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the O.A. Sutton Corporation began marketing Vornado fans under the "Vornadofan" brand name."Our history of making history,"
official website, Vornado Air, LLC, retrieved June 23, 2017. The name "Vornado" is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsvortex In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in ...

" and "

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

". Early fans were designed by industrial designer Richard Ten Eyck, and were distinguished from ordinary fans by enclosure in a short duct shaped as

aerodynamically Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

contoured cylindrical ring, with an added concentric flared intake duct ring, sharply pitched blades, stationary vanes and aerodynamic

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...

, and rubber

shock-mount A shock mount or isolation mount is a mechanical fastener that connects two parts elastically. They are used for shock and vibration isolation. Isolation mounts allow a piece of equipment to be securely mounted to a foundation and/or frame and, a ...

ing. The design was advertised as making the fan exceptionally quiet, efficient and effective, delivering a narrower, more-concentrated blast of air than normal fans."FAQs,"
official website, Vornado Air, LLC, retrieved June 23, 2017. The company later added a line of air conditioners. Amid sales that had fallen to half of their peak, the company ceased production in September 1958 and began liquidating its inventory, and manufacturing and office equipment were auctioned off in June 1959. Sutton's air conditioner coil manufacturing line was purchased by Gibson Refrigerator Co. and moved from Wichita. In October 1959, the O.A. Sutton Corp. was purchased by the discount department store chain

Two Guys Two Guys from Harrison (later shortened to Two Guys) is a former discount store chain founded in 1946 by brothers Herbert and Sidney Hubschman in Harrison, New Jersey, originally selling major appliances such as televisions. The chain acquired ...

, which subsequently renamed itself Vornado, Inc. The consolidated company expanded the Vornado line of appliances to more than 50 in under three years, including ranges, freezers, hair dryers, and electronic can openers sold by the Two Guys chain as well as other dealers, though the manufacturing operations were outsourced. That company eventually divested all retail operations and evolved into what is now

Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust formed in Maryland in 1982, with its primary office in New York City. The company invests in office buildings and street retail in Manhattan. Investments Notable properties owned by the ...

, a

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

. From 1997 to 2008, the Vornado headquarters in Andover hosted the Antique Fan Collectors Association's (AFCA's) Antique Fan Museum in their lobby, featuring antique

electric fans A fan is a powered machine used to create a flow of air. A fan consists of a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades, generally made of wood, plastic, or metal, which act on the air. The rotating assembly of blades and hub is known as an ''imp ...

sourced from AFCA members around the world, as well as some modern Vornado products. In 2008, the museum relocated to

Zionsville, Indiana Zionsville is a suburban town located in the extreme southeast area of Boone County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. The population was 14,160 at the 2010 census, 30,693 at the 2020 census, and grew to 33,891 in the 2022 est ...

ceiling fan A ceiling fan is a mechanical fan, fan mounted on the ceiling of a room or space, usually electric power, electrically powered, that uses hub-mounted rotation, rotating blades to wikt:circulation, circulate air. They cool people effectively by ...

manufacturer Fanimation's headquarters. Vornado Type Flippi V6

Current

The Vornado brand name was resurrected in 1989 by Michael Coup. Operating under the name Vornado Air Circulation Systems Inc., Coup obtained the rights to the Vornado trademark and worked with original designer Richard Ten Eyck to come up with a new fan design. Initially the company operated in northeast Wichita (Vornado's original hometown). The design consisted of a unique spiral front

with patented "Vortex Action" technology, which allowed air to exit in a spiral pattern, and bounce off of walls, allowing for whole-room air circulation. The air circulators also contained modern updates of some classic Vornado features, such as the rear air inlet (which allowed ambient air to enter through the rear of the fan to be recirculated and a plastic, three-winged blade with a unique design. These air circulators were available as table, floor, stand, or window models, and were available in different colors. The "Vortex Action" technology and uniquely-designed blade was also used for Vornado-branded

heater Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

s, air purifiers, and

dehumidifiers A dehumidifier is an air conditioning device which reduces and maintains the level of humidity in the air. This is done usually for health or thermal comfort reasons, or to eliminate musty odor and to prevent the growth of mildew by extracting wa ...

. Between January 1989 and August 1990, Vornado sold about 135,000 of its fans with a distinctive spiral front

. In August 1990, competitor Duracraft began offering a cheaper, visually similar fan, and by November 1992, Duracraft had sold nearly one million of them—that company's second-largest-selling household fan. Vornado sued under the

Lanham Act The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal trademark statute of law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. ...

claiming deceptive imitation in appearance—but an appeals court ruled against Vornado, because the design had been a part of their expired patent, and was now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

."VORNADO AIR CIRCULATION SYSTEMS INC v. DURACRAFT CORPORATION"
No. 94–3191, Decided: July 05, 1995, United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, als

retrieved June 23, 2017 In the late 1990s, Vornado introduced a line of reproduction fans, starting with the Silver Swan table fan, which was based on the

Emerson Electric Emerson Electric Co. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri. The ''Fortune'' 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets.

Silver Swan table fan from the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

era in the 1930s. The line expanded with modern reproductions of Vornado's own "VornadoFan" air circulators. The "Alchemy Series" was introduced in 2017, featuring custom finishes and a custom storage bag included with each product. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), from January 1993 through February 2004, Vornado received over 300 reports of defective heater units overheating, melting, smoking, or catching fire. The CPSC alleged that Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc., failed to promptly report these incidents to the CPSC as required by law, saying Vornado only reported the incidents to the CPSC after CPSC staff started asking questions, in February, 2004."Vornado Trust to Pay $500,000 Civil Penalty for Failure to Report Defects and Hazards with Electric Heaters,"
Release #08-180, January 31, 2008, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, retrieved June 26, 2017 In December 2006, Vornado Air Circulation Systems sold most of its assets to a private equity firm, which formed a new company, Vornado Air, LLC., in Wichita's neighboring suburban community of Andover."Vornado Air Recalls Electric Space Heaters Due to Fire and Burn Hazard,"
Recall #14-256, August 14, 2014, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, retrieved June 26, 2017 In January, 2008, the CPSC reported that a liquidating trust, acting on behalf of the by-now dissolved manufacturer, Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc. (formerly of Andover), agreed to pay the government a $500,000 civil penalty, settling the prior CPSC allegations against Vornado Air Circulation Systems Inc., regarding the 300-plus unreported defective heater units. Vornado did not, however, concede any violation of law. On August 14, 2014, the CPSC announced a recall of 79,000 Vornado-brand electric heaters (Vornado VH110 Whole Room Vortex electric space heaters) which had been made in China for Vornado Air, LLC, of Andover, and sold for about $60 at several major retail store chains and online sellers, and the design were known to be defective and had issues since 1993, before they were even made in China. The recall followed 29 reports of units overheating and melting, including seven reports of heaters catching fire, resulting in one report of smoke inhalation and one report of property damage caused by soot and smoke. In 2017, Vornado introduced their line of Energy Smart air circulators (fans). The fans feature

Direct Current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

(DC) motors, are manufactured at Vornado's headquarters in Andover, and have an infinitely-variable speed controls with either a manual

rheostat A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. The measuring instrume ...

-type control, or a digital pushbutton control panel. The Energy Smart line has since expanded to air purifiers and

humidifiers A humidifier is a device, primarily an electrical appliance, that increases humidity (moisture) in a single room or an entire building. In the home, point-of-use humidifiers are commonly used to humidify a single room, while whole-house or furnac ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.vornado.com
Guide to fans & history
Manufactured goods Ventilation fans

Current

See also

References

External links