North Canton Friday Finds...

[myhooverco]

Joe and I went thrifting today...we hit Sally Anns, Goodwills, and flea markets and came home with these items...some were from a Kirby dealer (trades). Tomorrow, who knows what we may find at the Saturday Hartville Flea Market! We will also hit a few estate sales and more thrift stores.

Left to right...Lux XXX from the model LX era, Hoover Portable, Kenmore canister circa early 1970s, 1980s Hoover Portapower, Late Concept One Heavy Duty, Model 70 Hoover Convertible, Hoover Handivac Deluxe, and a very clean Hoover Dimension canister.

Tomorrow's haul could be even better! I will keep you all posted. We are just having fun and finding vacs!

--Tom

 

[myhooverco]

Here is another view...

Here are the same vacs different angle...enjoy...I will post pictures of tomorrows finds...wish us luck!

--Tom

 

[myhooverco]

Here is day two...

This was our haul today. From left to right...(ahem) the 867A which is going to Buffalo did I mention that already someplace????????

My (I made such a good choice...) Convertible U4007...(mental note...never let Joe out of my sight on these ventures!!!)

This Electro Hygiene belongs to Jeff from Mansfield, OH...

Joe's Roto Matic, and his Kenmore Comander complete with a hose covered in two rolls of duct tape...guess what it leaks!! I could not believe it!

Jeff's Hoover 28 which we cleaned up a bit.

Joe's Eureka self propelled upright and a vintage 1910's Hunter fan and it works!

We had a great time...Thanks Joe and Jeff for a great visit. We just never know what may turn up! It was a lot of fun talking vacuums and searching for that rare machine (from Great Brittain which JOE got did I mention that again??) We had a lot of laughs and ran lots of cleaners...Hoovers and Bojacks and an 867A...oooh did I write that out loud...all $15 worth? Bitter...your table is quite ready.

--Tom

 

[Cybrvanr]

Those little Hoover portables are great little vacuums. Very powerful! I keep one in the back of my work truck for cleaning electronics and stuff. They're a little noisey, but the get the job done very well! I found a company that makes special filter devices that go in the bag compartment for these so you can use them to clean up printer toner and other fine dust. I'm not doing any of that, but I find it interesting that they're out there!

 

[gansky1]

Very nice finds guys! When is the Porta-Power from? I've never seen that color combo before.

 

[myhooverco]

That Porta Power is from the mid 80's...it uses the Spirit motor instead of the tried and true Dial a Matic motor of the 1970's. These are great little power houses and are still available today I think as a commercial cleaner.

--Tom

 

[brettsomers]

Commercial Cleaner

indeed they are, and so much better than those horrible little Oreck Buster b's. even with the spirit motor. ive had both the spirit and dam style. i use my Port-a-power for real, everyday cleaning, and to clean other vacuums!

 

[tolivac]

Yes,The Hoover "Portapowers" are indeed sold as commercial machines-equipped with a LONG 3 wire cord.There is one at the site where I work. Have used it to clean out transmitters during monthly "PM"It was amazing how much dirt the little bag held-including occasional "greaseballs" from the tuning chains.Just put in another bag --away you go.I can also agree on the comparison of the Hoover machine against the Oreck one-Hoover wins--"hoses down"!The Oreck one is a "blow and chase" operation-you pick up dust-the Oreck machine blows it right out again.WWW Grainger sells Hoover equipment.Many vacuum stores seell the Hoover commerical equipment as well-better then their "household" equipment.

 

[volvoguy87]

The Royal Electro Hygene

The Royal Electro Hygene is a great vacuum. My mother bought one in 1981 and it is still working away. The base will respond well to a polish and a wax, but be careful, the motor housing gets warm, so use a wax that can take the heat. Yours also looks like its missing the red front cover plate. The only bad thing about the vacuum I know of is that the attachments are a bit of a pain to use, and the hose seems rather flimzy. For floors, however, it's a great machine. I hope to get it eventually, but for now I'll stick with my Electrolux XXX and Super J.

Keep em coming,
Dave

 

[timborow]

Nice finds......

Love all the Hoovers you have found. I noticed the Lux XXX, and started wondering. It seems that most canisters of its era didn't have wheels. What was the advantage of the metal sled like runners? It seems that if Lux could have made an all metal canister to the high standards of the model XXX, someone would have said "Hey what if we put wheels on it?" I know that later models did include wheels, but consider the XXX, Hoover's AeroDyne, Westinghouse, and many others I'm sure. They all had sleds. Did these scratch wooden floors when dragged over them? It seems many housewives would have complained about this. The only model XXX I have ever used was on carpet, and it was a little awkward to pull behind you. This is just a thought. Maybe someone else has thought this same thing. Or, maybe I'm just a little "strange." (I hope not.) Anyway, what do you think vac experts? Tim

 

[buffalo-joe]

Many Many Thanks...........

Thanks got out to Tom and Heather for hosting me this weekend. I had a great time and as always it goes too fast. Now its back to work. Still all the memories of vac hunting are fresh in my mind and will be there every time I work with these machines I found in North Canton.

As I said, I had a great time visiting with Tom and Heather. It was fun keeping baby Glenn busy with sweepers. I had a blast. I got to run some machines from Tom's collection too.

Thank You Thank You Thank You!

Joe in Buffalo, NY

 

[volvoguy87]

Canister Sleds

Sled style runners seem to be common into the 1950s on most canister vacuums. The last design by Electrolux that used this style that I know of was the LX which started production in 1952. Aparently, bolt-on wheels were available as an aftermarket item, however. It is interesting to note that the LXI of 1955 had sled runners, but actually rode upon wheels. For more information, please view the link below to a wonderful site. I will warn you, however, that this site is dangerous and may occupy your attention for quite some time! My hat is off to the creator of the 137 site.

Dave

http://www.137.com/lux/luxlxs.html

 

[timborow]

Canister Sleds

I don't know why, but I have suddenly become interested in the XXX. I tend to like vacuums from the 60's 70's era since that's when I grew up, but now I just think those sleds type vacuums are neat. I just wonder how well they actually worked compared to wheeled cleaners. I do know that the XXX was extremely light weight and cleaners were probably used differently during its day than it would be used today. Were they actually drug behind you during cleaning, or did most people pick them up and move them? Were they murder on wooden floors, or were they mostly just used on carpet? Tim