The first motorized fans appeared in the 1880s. Before household wiring was universal, there were experiments with alternative forms of fan power: water pressure, batteries, even hot air from a kerosene burner.

Pre-1900 fans are quite scarce and expensive. The most expensive include battery-operated fans created by Thomas Edison's laboratory back at the birth of the industry. One prize fan made as a gift to Edison, decorated with an inscribed plaque, recently brought in the neighborhood of $30,000 at auction.