Hey Terry
I think I did tell the story of how I got the machine pictured at the top of this thread. I must have been walking up Ventura Blvd (highly unusual activity in LA) down the street from where I lived in LA and passed the local vac shop. What did I spy but this beauty lined up with some other rebuilt vacs. These machines were literally indestructible and many times rebuilt. Hoover did that for years and labeled the rebuilt machines Special. That term was later used for the lower-end convertibles. I have a pristine pink 32 Special. Anyway, imagine in 1999 a fifty year old machine being sold for commercial use. It has a replacement hood, bumper, cord and shake-out bag (which I replaced with an original Handisac cloth bag, all-in-all a beautiful matched set. I think I paid $79.00 for it and it runs like the day it came out of North Canton in 1946-47.
I understand that the machines of this era were built so well, that when they were sold rebuilt by vac shops, they would cut into new Hoover sales. I am not exactly sure of the story, some old-timers tell them, but I understand that Hoover reps would get their hands on these machines and take a sledgehammer to them to make sure they got off the market. Now, of course, they sell plastic machines that self-destruct so the the average life of a vacuum is something like 7 years. I am still in awe of how these machines were built and their ease of service. Replaceable ball bearings, etc. etc. As well as a thing of beauty - all in the eye of the beholder, but I sure do appreciate the craftsmenship and quality, and mourn the loss of the pride in quality that we see in today's Hoovers. When I stopped at the Hoover store, it was a sea of colored plastic - Yuk.
