[Guest]

I've got a few old Philcos, including a 38-1 console. I came across what I thought was an old Philco radio at a local thrift store. Upon closer look I discovered that it is the Philco Ventilator - a window fan. I can't find much information about these on the web and it seems like they are pretty rare. Does anyone have any idea what these things are worth? The store has it priced at 85.00. It works, all the knobs are there. Cosmetically I would say it's in good condition.

Thanks!

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi

Have you looked here?

http://www.philcoradio.com/history/hist6.htm
http://www.philcoradio.com/history/othrphil.htm

I used to own one of these units. Wish I had kept it, mine was in excellent, working condition.

I do not know exactly when they were introduced, but as they use 1937-38 concentric tuning knobs for two of the three controls they probably date from around 1939-40, given Philco's divestiture into other appliance fields beginning in June 1938 at the start of the 1939 model year.

[Guest]

Hi Ron,

Yes, the second link has a pic of one toward the bottom. The one at the thrift store looks just like it just not quite as nice. Do you have any idea if it's worth 85 bucks? They originally had it marked at 150.00 then went down to something like 105.00 and now down to 85.00. I found one forum that talked about two that were on Ebay (the posts were from 2003) and they kept talking about one selling for more than the other, but never said how much. I can't find anything at all that would give me an idea of what these things sell for. I'd hate to spend 85.00 and then find one on Ebay for half that.

TAB

[Guest]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the Philco Ventilator today. I returned the the thrift store where I saw it a few days ago and it was still there. I went to get it and an older gentleman got there before me and was giving it a good look-over. I figured that if he bought it that would be providential and I'd save 90 bucks! He didn't. Needs a good cleaning and a cord replacement.

Interesting that with the wealth of information on the net, I do not find much on these. I think it's safe to say that they are rather rare. I understand the hesitation of anyone biting on my request for an opinion as to what it's worth. I figure I may not have gotten a great deal, but I didn't really lose anything on the investment either.

I'm planning to post some pics of my nominal collection, including this Philco fan, soon.

TAB