TRICO FANS
One item that the Model A Ford did not come from the factory
with was a defroster fan for the windshield. One popular type of aftermarket
defroster fans was the Trico Fan.
R.J. Oshie founded the Tri-Continental Corporation in 1916 and marketed the first wiper
blade for automobiles. The name of the company was later shortened to Trico
and the company became famous for the lines of wiper blades and related products.
During the 1920s and 30s, Trico started to provide other accessories for the automobile in
addition to wiper blades. These other accessories were powered by vacuum from the
automobile. The company even marketed a separate vacuum pump that ran off the
outside of the fan belt.
Trico fans mounted to the steering column with two brackets. A vacuum hose connected
to a nipple at the base of the fan. A knob on the side of the base was used to
adjust the amount of vacuum, which controlled the speed of the fan. Two designs for
the Trico fan were available for the Model A Ford. The first design had steel blades
and a steel cage surrounding the blades. The metal bladed Trico fan is shown below:
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A second design had no cage around the blades because the blades were rubber. Below is a picture of the Trico fan with rubber blades. The picture shows the nipple for the vacuum hose, and knob for speed control. In addition, it also shows how the rubber blade can become soft and ineffective, a common problem seen with the rubber bladed Trico fans.
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The picture below shows the back of a Trico fan with the Trico logo and patent numbers.
The following picture shows an original box that the Trico
Fan was sold in.
