Gracious Good Afternoon From St. Charles!!

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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.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[email protected]/slideshow2?.dir=/6f17&.src=ph&.beg=0&.spd=2
 
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
 
Recovery from Tarantula Arms

Fred,

Well, I'm home and did a sick out from work as you and the gang completely wore me out! I'm still off to Las Vegas on Friday so let me know if you want me to bet for you.

Anyway, let me add my thanks to that of the others. You are the perfect host/hostess and I think you know how much your friends really love and care about you. We like working on your machines since you are so generous to us with your home, food, wine, time, etc. It is our way of saying thanks and we are glad we are in your life.

I am so glad you finally let me and Terry get those vacuums arranged by make and lighted well. I think you were and still remain amazed by how many you have---it is almost overwhelming when you step into your basement either to the left or right. So, stop looking at ebay for a while!! Just play with what is there. The Lewyt and Kenmore Saturn did turn out beautifully and the Hoover 150's are such Sherman tanks that all they need is buffing up as the motors go forever. The Compact, (not sure of the model number), is a beauty and I do think you should get it up on the main levels for daily use.

All in all, it was a great time and it went by so damn fast. They say that is an indication of a good time and it was a good time! Now let's start getting ready for a January or Febuary repeat.

I'm going to add a pic or two of my own for the folks to see.

Charlie
 
Fred, is that Kenmore Saturn the one that came with the cart? Or was that the Lady Kenmore? I have the Consumer Reports rating for it. Might I request a closeup?

Cool vacs. Must be a lot of sucking going on at your house...;)

veg
 
Vacuum Crazies

Here is the assorted group of mixed nuts from the weekend vacuum mini-meet. Missing are: Jeff, (cooking dinner), little Fred, (taking the picture), and Joe, (helping Jeff).
 
Eureka

Pete,

That is Mark with the Eureka, (Fred is first on the left with glasses), and the Eureka belongs to Jeff Parker as we were at his home on Saturday night. We'll have to find out from Jeff which model it is and see if yours is the same. The attachments do go in through the front after removing the rectangular Eureka nameplate on the base. There were several models of these and if I remember correctly, this one uses a disposable bag and has a "disturbulator" brushroll.

Charlie
 
Eureka & pics

Pete,
I'm pretty sure the Eureka is a model 260, vintage 1964. Its two speed with the switch on the back of the handle. It does not have the height adjustment your model has, rather its adjusted by its rear wheels. I'll post a picture tonight.

Charlie: More pics please! There's one of me making mashed potatoes that little Fred took, and some of my table that I would love to see!
Was great to see you this weekend as well. I am just sorry I couldn't hang around longer on Sunday so I could get to know the real Helen Lawson as much as I did Ida Corwin!
 
and back in the kitchen we have Mr. Jack...

Eating a bite of his dinner, which didn't stop him from wanting everyone else's too!

Thanks Charlie!
 
Veg - Here is a closeup of the Kenmore Saturn

The Kenmore on the cart would have been the Lady Kenmore. This is one of the MOL models from 1958 I believe. About the time I got this one, Miss Tania also got the Lady Kenmore model and brought it down to compare side to side. I think the only difference was the cart. Leave it to her to pick one up for next to nothing and have me pay top dollar on Ebay. Oh well, it was worth it.
 
Tracy and Edna Turnblad from Hairspray

You will notice on that poster behind the Kirbys it is signed by none other than Mink Stole. Definitely a keeper!!
 
Speaking of Kenmore vacuum cleaners.

Who makes 'em now, they are Japanese, is it Panasonic?

Who made, for example, the one in the prior pic.

and we need more pics of "little" Fred! :-)
Apron optional.
 
Kenmore

Toggle,
Kenmore vacuums were originally made by Birtman Electric, makers of the BEE vac.
Sometime in the 1950's they began having Whirlpool make their canisters, and eventuallu Sears convinced Whirlpool to stop selling vacuums under their own name.
Thru the 1960's, 70's and most of the 80's 99% of their canisters and their Duo Power uprights were made by Whirlpool. Soft bag uprights were made by Singer.
Sometime in the 1990's they started switching to Panasonic made stuff, which is what most of it is today.
The one in Fred's pic is made by Whirlpool, as was the Powermate vacuum I brought out there to play with last weekend.
 
Good Time Had By All..

You certainly made a FAB display, its great to have a space where you can leave them out, admire and use them when you want....

my stuff fits in a large cupboard under the stairs (the tardis) and whilst I do shuffle occasionally and change things its a B***h to access something at the back quickly.

With the Lux cylinders, what was the wattage of the first early cylinder compared to the last one that Fred has???

Love the pinky, is it a GE??

Cheers, Mike
 
Was Hairspray your favorite Waters film Fred?
Of course Pink Flamingo's was the best I thought Polyester was a close second with Francine Fishpaw the odor-aware housewife. Such a vintage blue livingroom set as well. LOL
 
Nothing beats the odo-r-ama scratch-and-sniff card for that there movie.

BTW=> Someone sticks their head in an ELECTRIC wall-oven. I think it was supposed to be GAS. LOL

Speaking of gas, I think someone passes that in the movie and there is a scratch-and-sniff too. WHAT A RIOT!
 
Electrolux

Mike,
I am no expert on Electrolux, but I want to say the earlier models were about 6amps(720 watts) and the later models would be 9-10 amps, 12 with the powernozzle.
"pinky" would be a 1950's GE Swiveltop, Fred has a couple different GE's so there will never be a "drag around tragedy" in his house
 

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