Gracious Good Afternoon From St. Charles!!

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

More Photos

Jon - Charlie - He Man? - Boy those pictures must be fuzzy. They did a great job on the vacuum rooms. Here are some more. There are pictures of the Maytag wringer. We showed little Fred what washing was all about in the good old days. Charlie is trying to start a new fashion trend - The Air Way hostess outfit!

Loading…

pg.photos.yahoo.com
 
Jeff, Do the two Kenmore "Bests" have two speed pushbuttons, just wondering if they used the same buttons as on my upright Powerease. I bought the attachment set for mine originally but returned them shortly after because the suction was so poor, I bought the blue Kenmore Hand Vac for that purpose. Too bad I returned those orginal attachments and hose now.
BTW, the Sears Best were green, weren't the basic models pale blue I'm thinking. ?
 
Austin,

Remember the Hotel California? You can check out but you can never leave.............sort of like Tarantula Arms. Fred's outreach can be lethal and deadly at times. Also, remember in, "Gone With The Wind", Mammy said to Scarlett when Ashely came home from the Civil War on leave, "And there you will be waiting fo him jes like a spider!"

Are we getting the picture now? Fred weaves a web of treachery and deceit and you can become stuck in it like a victim waiting to have your life's blood sucked out!

I hope I do not need to elaborate further as Fred is sitting with a Handi Butler on a classic III Kirby with a jigsaw next to me. This may be my last post...........

Charlie
 
LOL...I have to agree that it looks like "such a lovely place"; I still can't get over how nice that showroom is! The kitchen looks very nice as well.

Being "here to stay" isn't really a bad thing, IMHO, with the A806, N2LPS, and of course all of those vacuums! ;-)
 
And the little blue Kenmore HandVac I bought because the PowerEase attachments were so lame. This little machine is a super little vacuum, very powerful, but what I like best about it is the attachments can be put directly on the machines outlet or on the wands, or on the end of the hose so you can make whatever you want out of it.. like a stick vac.. just attach the wands direct to the vacuum and put the attachmens on the other end. My head spins at the combinations LOL
 
Austin

That wringer is an E2LS. I ordered the adjustable leg for a Maytag Automatic, screwed it in the clutch mechanism and it works perfectly to override the foot pedal mechanism. Thanks to Kenny Smith for that tip. That machine is built like a Sherman tank. We demonstrated how fast laundry would be done on laundry day. One load after another through the tubs and out to the clothes line. These articles went to the Neptune dryer however.
 
Sears didn't go to blue for their vacs until 1978

I have a BOL 1976 Powermate that is the same color as Jeff's 1976 & 1977 Sears Best's. On the other hand I picked up a 1978 Sears Best last summer and it is blue, I have also seen the BOL Powermate, that I have in green, in blue for sale on Ebay. Last, but not least, I have some late 70's Good Housekeeping mags with Kenmore Powermate vac ads in them and in the 1976-77 issues the Powermates are green while in the 1978-79 issues they are blue. One last interesting note the blue Powermate nozzle in the 1978 ad has no circut breaker reset switch on top while the Powermate nozzle in the 1979 ad does....PAT COFFEY
 
oops I forgot to say....

The Sears Best cannister I have has a slide switch to control the 2 speeds just like the 76 & 77 Jeff have. I know that Jeff's have the same switch too because the vacuum I grew up with was a 1976 Sears Best that we still have sans the Power nozzle at our lake house. PAT COFFEY
 
Sears Best..

Pete,
The canisters have a slide switch at one corner of the top of the canister for changing speeds, and a step-on pedal down front for switching on and off.
Sears used the same colors throughout their lines through the 70's. The green from 72-74 was avocado with celery, and in 1975 the darker green became a more neon apple green with the celery. The celery went away in 1977, and they used white. Look back at the earlier pic, you'll be able to tell the 76 and 77 models apart.
In 1978 they went blue, and from 79-81 they were tan/brown.

Your appliance room looks spectacular!
 
Hi to all, I have returned home from a wonderful "way to fun" weekend at Tarantuola Arms! As all of you can tell from the pictures we had a great weekend of non stop fun! I want to extend a very Special Thank-you to Fred for having me. Charlie and I had so much fun changing Fred's vacuum rooms around and setting up the display. What fun too playing with the Maytag wringer. This was the first time Fred S. had seen one in operation and then took part in the washing as well. A big Thank-you also to Jeff Parker for hosting us all on Saturday evening. He made a wonderful dinner and it was great to see and experience his beautiful collection as well. It is call "Hoover Land" for a good reason! Thanks again everyone for the memories. Sure seems dull and quiet around here.....after such a great weekend. Terry
 
Thanks Everyone!

In case one thinks that these vac gatherings are all insanity I will tell you that they are a gathering of good friends who share fellowship, friendship and a common interest (although unusual) in vintage vacuum cleaners. In addition to completely rearranging my basement, for which I will be forever grateful, everyone seemed to grab a project to restore or work on during their stay. The basement rearrangement has given me a whole new appreciation for my collection which was kind of here, there and everywhere. Every time I would come back from an errand, some new rearranging had been done, with no small effort.

I am posting a link to a few photos of the weekend restoration projects.

1. Lewyt Big Wheels - bought back in the late 90s and never touched again. Restored!

2. Hoover 150 - Roger Lequea and I were discussing my dream machines at Greg's in Omaha and he said "I have got one you can have." He sent it and it is beautiful. Charlie polished it up with a little shoe polish and voila! Beautiful

3. Kenmore Saturn Power Nozzle Canister. Somewhat rough but worked on by Charlie, Terry and Tania with laquer thinner and polish. The hose had some holes in it which were patched with vinyl patch. A new cord will be needed, but this puppy is ready to go now.

4. Hoover 707 Promotional Model - When Jeff Parker and Fred Stachnik listened to this one they pronounced it unresuscitatable. Very bent axles and bad bearings - agitator and motor and no light. Jeff started on it and Mark Thomas worked on it to the wee hours of the morning. Not quite done but will be great.

5. Compact C80 - Bought new in 1982 with parts scattered. We found them all, put them back together and it is a beautiful machine that will be my daily driver on the first floor. Tania instructed me on the new filtration - as good as any HEPA machine today.

All others - It seems that everyone took a list of items that I need which will probably be arriving from my friends over the next few weeks. Thanks everyone for everything - especially being my friends. All are welcome.

Loading…

pg.photos.yahoo.com
 
You're very fortunate Fred or you studied Tom Sawer and his Fence to heart. LOL
My downstairs right now could be described as shambles squared however I did finally force the other one here to assist in loading quite a bit of his excess office furniture into his truck and got it back to the office loft where it belonged in the first place. The neighbor took a HUGE office desk set including credenza so that saved some work. I had to disassemble it just to get it up the stairs and out the door. No sooner had done that then I realized..why the H didn't we just cart it out the ground floor door at the back and drive the truck round to load it in.. Stupid, but I was in such a frenzy to get it out I wasn't thinking LOL

So are you going to share any of your restoration secrets...shoe polish, thinners, nail polish etc?
 
my secret...

for metal machines, any smooth painted surface, a good rubbing compound will put new life in old paint.
For plastic such as Hoover convertible motor hoods(any smooth plastic): Remove the scratches/marks with super-fine steel wool, and rub as hard as you want. Follow this with BRASSO metal polish, applied and rubbed in using a cloth or paper towel. wipe off/buff with an old terry towel, and reapply if desired. The more you apply/buff the BRASSO, the shinier it will get....

Fred: You're awesome, Thanks from the bottom of my heart for everything this weekend. I can still hear you laughing at Charlie!
 
Yes once again from me as well, Thanks for the wonderful weekend Fred. You are so right, we share such a special bond here and I feel truly blessed to have found all of you. It is so much more fun to work on these machines when you have others around that are having as much fun as you are. Pete if your room needs some help, have a gathering you will be amazed at what happens. Terry
 

Latest posts

Back
Top