Emerson Seebreeze fan and Gaffers & Sattler Bon-Aire Mark 1 Swamp Cooler

Hello all,

With the dog days of summer quickly approaching I thought it would be a great idea to put some retro cooling in the house.

I was out with the misses antiquing in the bay and we came across this Emerson Seebreeze fan that was rusty & dirty and I knew if I got my hands on it I could make it a cool addition to the pad.

After a day of prep which included sanding and cleaning I applied a coat of primer. I prefer Valspar gray primer (sold at Lowes). I gave it a good and even coat and let it cure over night. The next morning I began to paint with Valspar gloss medium gray and Mediterranean. I then let is sit another day so the paint would be set up for re-assembly. I think it looks great! It is amazing what paint and elbow grease will do.

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Here is another retro cooling appliance I restored that I found on Craigslist. I totally love the pointy edges on the top of the unit, it makes it look very atomic. This portable swamp cooler was made by Gaffers & Sattler model Bon-Aire Mark 1. Swamp coolers were used in place of air conditioners if a house did not have AC. It works by adding water to a holding tank. A fan sucks up the water and turns it into a mist. With the mist and the fan blowing it cools a localized area. This was a pretty straight forward restoration. It had some rust on the bottom that I sanded off. I then primered and painted the whole piece. Lowe’s carried a filter that I cut to fit and I was also able to find a spray on sealant to re-seal the water holding tank. This unit works well and was completed just in time to keep things cool.

We also have another swamp cooler from the same time period with a stand. I’ll try to restore that one and get pictures up as soon as I can. It’s really cool too, no pun intended :).