| Van Ellis Huff | |
| Birth Date: | 1894 |
| Death Date: | 1987 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | University of Florida |
| Known For: | Popularizing the jalousie window |
Van Ellis Huff (1894 – 1987) was a University of Florida trained engineer who popularized residential use of a combination jalousie window. Drawing inspiration from common wooden slat windows he'd become familiar with in the Bahamas, he designed a hand-cranked glass, aluminum and screen window version that found widespread use in temperate climates before the advent of air conditioning.[1]
Fitted also in cooler regions in porches and sunrooms, jalousies became a multimillion-dollar industry and the company Huff had built to manufacture them prospered. However, amid complaints over underbidding and his salesmen's tactics, Huff sold his share in 1956 and retired.[1]
Huff is sometimes referred to inaccurately as the "inventor" of the jalousie window. The first patent for such a window, #687705, was applied for on Nov. 26, 1901, by Joseph W. Walker.