[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Ceiling Fan Robot
November 9th, 2015 by Benj Edwards
Play it again, Samtronic
I ran across this ad for CasaBlanca’s Intelli-Touch, “the world’s first computerized ceiling fan,” in a 1985 issue of Home magazine that I found in my mom’s house.
My mother has subscribed to house decorating magazines for as long as I can remember, and Home is only one of many (other examples: Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living). I never thought that I’d feature a scan from one, though.
But this ceiling fan ad was too fun to pass up. It reflects a time when you could slap the term “computerized” on any electronically-controlled consumer product (even if it didn’t actually have a computer inside, which was often the case) and use it as a marketing angle.
The robotic take on Humphrey Bogart’s classic film reminds me of those famous Maxell ads. Perhaps the same people were responsible for both campaigns? I don’t know, but frankly, this would have terrified me if I had seen it as a kid. Luckily, I found it when I was 34, so I’m only slightly afraid.
Discussion Topic of the Week: If you woke up one day and everyone looked like a metallic, boxy robot, what would you do?
November 9th, 2015 at 10:03 am
Great nugget as always, Benj. A suggestion: maybe you could make those scans in a slightly higher resolution? Sometimes I want to read finer print or just zoom in at some of the details, but they get lost in the current “good for screen” size. Thanks and keep them coming!
November 9th, 2015 at 10:15 am
Thanks, Chester. Yeah, I might start to make the “large size” a little larger in 2016. It’s been creeping up every year. In the age of Retina screens, I know demand will be higher for larger resolutions. RSOTW started as 700px wide, then 800px, and now 900px wide as standard over the years, although sometimes I do 1000 or 2000 px wide (for vertically oriented ads) if there is small text that can’t be read otherwise.
It’s just been a matter of managing storage space and bandwidth over time. For years, my VC&G server had a 10 MBPS link to the Internet, and it would visibly choke when too many people viewed the site at once (especially if one post that was image-rich became popular) — that restriction has been gone for a year or so, so maybe I can make some bigger images now.
November 11th, 2015 at 12:48 am
Holy cow, we actually had that ceiling fan! Pressing and holding one of those toggle buttons would change the speed of the fan and make a higher or lower pitched beeping noise. Pretty high-tech for my young, mid-1980s mind…