There's A Quirky Fan Museum Hiding Right Here In Indiana And You'll Want To Plan Your Visit
By Tori Jane|Published August 22, 2023
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Tori Jane
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Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
So, if I ever told you that there’s a beyond quirky but oddly intriguing museum in Indiana dedicated entirely to fans (as in the air-moving kind) that you should actually check out, what would you think? Many people would likely immediately dismiss the idea as boring or ridiculous; after all, how interesting can fans possibly be? Well, friends, the answer to this question is actually “very”; hidden away in Zionsville is a world-famous ceiling fan manufacturer, and tucked inside its warehouse facility is an impressively fascinating antique fan museum. It’s the only antique fan museum in Indiana, and I promise it’s totally worth checking out!
It all started in 2009, when an existing antique fan museum in Wichita needed to find a new home or face extinction.
Passionate about fans for obvious reasons, Fanimation - the aforementioned company - offered to house the museum on its grounds. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Having opened in 2009, this bizarrely intriguing little museum boasts more than 2,000 old-school desk and ceiling fans.
These fans come from more than 140 different manufacturers from all over the world with one thing in common: really, really great fans that have withstood the test of time.
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Fun fact: the oldest (electric) desk fan in the museum is from the 1890s.
The oldest non-electric fans here date back to the 1880s. Other highlights include the earliest battery-powered fans, water-powered fans, steam fans, wind-up fans... the list goes on for days.
You'd be amazed at just how diverse the history and world of fans is.
It's not really something most of us think about very often; thank goodness for folks in this life with awesome niche interests that they share with the rest of us!
Personally, I never would have thought to look up a museum dedicated entirely to fans.
For more information about this truly unique little oddball attraction in Indiana, be sure to check out the official Antique Fan Museum website. Have a mighty need for even more strange and quirky attractions? Check out some of my favorite offbeat attractions in Indiana that you might not even know about yet!
What’s your favorite Indiana museum? Let me know in the comments – you might just see yours featured someday!
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