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Vintage Vacuum Cleaners – Enjoy Going Back in Time

Vintage vacuum cleaners? Aren’t they interesting? We’re here to help you re-live those old times through an odd household appliance called the vacuum. We want to offer you this informative post and guide, and yes, even some of the vintage vacuum products are still available.

Get ready for an interesting ride.

Electrolux Vacuum
Electrolux Vacuum

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Why Collect Vintage Vacuums

Why in the world do people want to collect old vintage vacuums? They take up way too much space and let’s face it, they smell too. However, some of us love that smell and especially the vroom of the motor as it’s all powerful suction makes that pesky dirt and whatever else is in its way just plain vanish.

Believe it or not, there are more collectors than just you and me. There’s a great club out there called, “Vacuum Cleaner Collectors’ Club News.” You can visit them but get ready for information overload.

There are actual meetings for us vintage vacuum hobbyists and so the social aspect of the collection is just another great reason to be a vacuum collector. Another great reason for collecting these sucking beasts is the incredible museums from around the world. Next time you’re planning a vacation, do some research and you’ll be surprised at the choices you have.

Why Collect Vintage Vacuums
Vintage Canisters

And then there is the mechanical aspect of old broken down vacuums that just seem to beckon us with the pleas of, “FIX ME, FIX ME!” I mean, who can resist the urge to resuscitate what seems to have been a long forgotten mechanical friend that once worked so hard for us.

Listen to me, getting all sentimental about a vintage vacuum. What can I say; an antique vacuum is like finding an old friend… talk about showing my age. Yikes!! The main reason to collect is just for the sheer joy of it. Albeit a strange hobby, I’m sure there are even stranger ones out there in the collector’s world. Whatever you do, just have fun with it.

History of Vacuum Cleaners

If you’re a vintage vacuum collector or are thinking about it, you really should know more about the history of vacuum cleaners. There is a lot of interesting information available out there. Once you start doing research on the vacuum it gets very intriguing.

Imagine your vacuum cleaner so large it has to be operated by two people outside of the home. In 1902 a fellow by the name of H. Cecil Booth created the first power operated vacuum cleaner called the “Puffing Billy.”

It was powered by an oil engine that used large hoses that had to be fed into the house through doors and windows. This was of course quite a monstrosity and not very efficient but it was entertaining enough to invite the neighbors over to watch.

History of Vacuum Cleaners
Vintage Hoover Vacuums

Soon after, somewhere between 1850 and 1900, new patents for these vintage vacuums were popping up everywhere. Several continents had decided to get in this new contraption, from Germany, France, America and Britain, just to name a few.

Maybe you will recognize some of these names and then maybe not. It was a very long time ago. There was the Dust Killer, Little Giant and of course one called, Apparatus for Removing Dust. Not very original but it did state the facts.

So there were hand powered vacuums, the old bellows system, gas powered, oil powered and even foot powered. It certainly was a lot of work just to clean a carpet. Imagine pushing around a 100-pound hand powered machine once or twice a week. Who needs exercise when you have housework to do.

Sometime in the early 20’s, these vintage vacuum cleaners were coming of age. They were more lightweight, more powerful and a little more pleasant to operate. Now we have robotic vacuums that can run unsupervised in our homes. We’ve come a long way baby!

This is what makes a vacuum so interesting; they are very rich in history. If you want to delve further into the history of vacuum cleaners, check out this post on our website: “History of the vacuum cleaner”.

Why Use an Upright Vacuum Cleaner?

Well, there are several reasons and they all depend on what type of cleaning you want to do. Of course, with the newer models they are clearly as adaptable as its cousin, the canister vacuum.

The greatest feature about an upright is the convenience of the attachments that are stored on board without having to haul around a hose and canister. Just wheel the upright out of the closet and plug it in and if you’re really feeling lazy there are self-propelled models available.

Some upright vacuums are also much lighter and easier to maneuver, so this makes for faster clean ups. The dirtbags are much larger which means saving in replacement bags too.

Overall, it really is just a personal preference. Make sure it is easy to handle, has all the attachments you think you will need and fits within your budget.

Just remember, with vacuum cleaners you do get what you pay for.

Upright vacuum cleaners also save on space; all you need is a little corner for storage. If bending down to change the filter bag is a challenge for you then I would suggest the upright vacuum as the bags are vertical and not tucked away in the bottom of a canister.

Why Use an Upright Vacuum Cleaner?

Why Use a Canister Vacuum Cleaner?

Not that I have any real stats but I would wager the fact that the use of canister vacuum cleaners far exceeds the upright vacuum, at least outside of the US. Then again, it may be just my personal choice. Canisters are almost always much lighter which is great for going up and down the stairs.

Hauling an upright vacuum around can be very cumbersome especially if you are a little on the weak side. Back in the 1900’s vacuums weighed as much as 100 pounds.

Getting under tables, beds, and couches is a much easier job with a canister mostly due to the power head being separate from the motor housing. For this reason, the power head is much slimmer and light weight. This makes your job easier and faster.

There are some locations an upright vacuum just can’t get into because the unit is all one piece. With the canister, you just have the hose and power head. Even storage of the canister is better as most can be stood on end and tucked away into a corner.

If you want light weight and maneuverability than a canister vacuum is definitely the way to go. There are so many more choices, everything from handheld to truck mounted units for heavy industrial cleaning.

Even the pricing range is better as there is a size built for just about any kind of job. No sense purchasing a bigger unit than you need when there are so many choices available. This is something you won’t find in an upright vacuum cleaner.

As stated above these are just some of the reasons for purchasing a canister over an upright. If your house or building is wide open, one floor and has lots of space for beds, tables, and couches then an upright would be just fine. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s right for you.

Canister or Upright Vacuum Cleaner?

Sounds like a simple decision and really it is but you need to make the right decision for you. Let’s start off with the canister vacuum and see why some people don’t like them.

The Cons: Canister users tend to complain about dragging the vacuum behind them saying it takes more strength to pull an object than to push as you would with an upright. Then there are heel accidents when you pull the canister a little too close to your feet.

Then there is the corner wall banging and scratches on chair legs from tugging the unit too hard. You will probably end up paying more for the canister vacuum too.

Vintage Canister vacuum
Vintage Canister vacuum

And now the upright:
Due to the upright being all one piece it makes it difficult to get into tight spaces. The attachments do help in this area but this problem is still an inconvenience. While they don’t take up much floor space for storage they do have a tall handle that usually gets in the way of coats and shelves.

The biggest complaint has to be the weight and sheer bulkiness of the unit. This makes it terrible to transport, especially up and down the stairs.

Which One is The Best Vacuum for You?

Hopefully, the information above has helped you with this decision. If it has you can go and try out the different models to see what you are comfortable with or just go ahead and make a decision right now. Do you have a multi-level home?

Then you may want to consider the canister or if you are set on an upright vacuum cleaner you may want to try out one of the light weight units. However, you may lose out on power and attachments with this unit. So, which is it? Do you want to pull a vacuum or push it? Good luck!

Now let’s have a look at some vintage vacuum cleaners.

Vintage Electrolux Vacuums

Electrolux Vacuums
The history of the Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner Company has established a very reputable life span. Customer loyalty consistently grows year after year. Apparently, there was one Electrolux owner that had her granddaughter watch her use the original unit for thirty years and it’s still just as powerful as when it was new.

There is another story about a woman that used her Electrolux vacuum cleaner for 20 years. The day it suddenly died she immediately went out and bought another Electrolux unit. Talk about customer loyalty.

Vintage Electrolux Vacuum Model LX
Vintage Electrolux Vacuum Model LX

The Electrolux vacuum cleaner line has and probably always be known for their high quality. You would wonder why the name has been changed so many times though. They were originally built in Sweden over 90 years ago and sold all over Europe. Ten years later Electrolux LLC in Dallas TX started production for the United States and Canada.

Not too long ago the AB Electrolux company in Sweden offered the Texas Electrolux manufacturers fifty million dollars to change their name to Aerus. This was mostly due to the ever increasing popularity of the Electrolux line in North America.

Thankfully, Aerus has kept up the quality of the original name and product. The only changes are in the way the vacuums are marketed. When production first began in North America sales were mostly made through a traveling salesman.

Yes, door to door was the way to go if you wanted to be known quickly. Once the foot was in the door, a demonstration would begin and sales were brisk. Eventually, the vacuums were sold in department stores.

The department store route didn’t take off very good even though you may still find some in the odd city store. Now Electrolux vacuum cleaners are mostly sold through independently owned franchises. In the United States and Canada, there are over 500 Aerus dealers.

When originally designed the American version was built in the shaped of a tank that was easy to move around. Today we call them canister vacuums. This model is still the most popular after all these years.

No wonder, they have been known to last as long as thirty years. If you have a vintage vacuum you can still get parts as they come available online. A good source for these items can usually be found on Ebay, so keep an eye out if you own or want to start collecting vintage vacuum cleaners. It’s a hobby that is growing steadily.

Related Post: Electrolux EL4021A vs EL4335B Canister Vacuums

Vintage Eureka Vacuums

1909, A man named Fred Wardell starts a company called Eureka Vacuum Cleaners in Detroit Michigan. Three years in business and he has six top selling models that have these amazing attachments no one else has at that time.

One of these innovative attachments was a hair dryer and due to the lightness and improved designs, Eureka vacuums were awarded the grand prize at the San Francisco International Expedition in 1915. This award helped to increase business to the point where they were manufacturing 2000 vacuum cleaner units 5 years later in their Michigan factory.

Vintage Eureka Vacuum
Vintage Eureka Vacuum

In 1942 the Eureka Vacuum Company had to cease manufacturing of their units due to the World War II. Instead, they were building war items such as gas masks. After the war, Eureka joined forces with Williams O Matic who ran a heating business. Strange as it sounds the two companies would eventually be known for a product called, “the wooden lung.”

It was used to treat polio and infantile paralysis. Ten years later Eureka-Williams, as they were know, returned to their original business of vacuum cleaners and associated products. Over time they had built a battery operated the car and a thermal battery for NASA.

Later in 1974, Eureka-Williams was purchased by AB Electrolux from Sweden and the name was changed back to The Eureka Company. Over the next 20 years, The Eureka Company grew it business by increasing manufacturing with plants in Texas, Mexico, and Illinois.

At the beginning of the millennium, Eureka was offering Electrolux vacuum cleaners. Since 2004 The Eureka company officially changed their name to Electrolux Home Care Products North America. The year 2009 marked the 100th anniversary of the Eureka Vacuum cleaner company. Other names Eureka goes by are Sanitaire, Electrolux Central Vacuum Systems (Beam) and Electrolux itself.

See also:
Best Eureka Canister Vacuums
Best Eureka Upright Vacuums
Best Eureka Stick Vacuums

Vintage Hoover Vacuums

Hoover vacuum has become a legend in many parts of the world due to its long legacy. From our research, we find the Hoover got its start in a small store from Canton Ohio around 1907.

Vintage Hoover Vacuum
Vintage Hoover Vacuum

A man by the name of Murray Spangler created a device called a “suction sweeper” because the dust was bringing havoc to his allergies. Then there was Susan Hoover who was convinced to give the device a try and much to Murray Spangler’s delight got a great review.

Susan’s husband, Boss Hoover, began producing the vacuum soon after. While Spangle was the inventor, it was Boss Hoover who created the buzz about the new Hoover vacuum all over America. Nowadays, Hoover vacuum cleaners are only sold through approved establishments.

Way back in 1908 Boss Hoover came up with an ingenious sales technique that would guarantee the Hoover cleaner would have a spot in history. This is also where the door to door idea got started (or so we believe.)

The deal was to build stores where there would be known buyers. The stores would then make a ten-day offer where the customer could use the vacuum free of charge for these ten days. The catch? The store manager would deliver the unit and give a demonstration.

The store would get to keep a part of the sale for their efforts. Obviously, this is where the vacuum cleaner salesman idea was started. With this great new invention came other intriguing products invented by Hoover.

Hoover invented the beater bar back in 1926. This bar thumped the carpet to loosen the dirt. After that, the brush came along to pick up even more dirt. Even thought there many powerful competitors it was this brush attachment that got Hoover off the ground. As long ago as that was, the infamous beater bar is still used today and not only by Hoover.

The same company created the headlight you see on the front of some vacuum models along with the throwaway dust bags and the attachment holder that was built in. Due to these wonderful ideas, Hoover became the top model across America and is still at the top of that list by today’s standards.

See also:
Best Hoover Upright Vacuums
Best Hoover Stick Vacuums

Vintage Kirby Vacuums

Here is a little summary of the history of the famous Kirby Vacuum Cleaner over the last one hundred years. You’ll begin to understand why they have always been at the top of vacuum cleaner list when it comes to quality.

This information is provided by Charles Lester’s detailed history of Kirby vacuums. Stop in at his amazing site today for a wealth of information.

Vintage Kirby Vacuum
Vintage Kirby Vacuum

Actually, the Kirby company is just a part of the Scott Fetzer company and the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate which is looked after by the famous Warren Buffett. The company is located in Cleveland OH, USA and of course, it manufactures the vacuums some of us have grown up with but they also supply a wide range of home cleaning accessories too.

The attractiveness of the Kirby vacuum cleaner has been kept as it was from the early 1900’s for that retro look so many of us admire. Looking at their units is like a trip into history. They can get away with this due to their reputation for the power, durability and long lifetime value.

The unit may be more expensive than other competitors but the old saying, “you get what you pay for,” really holds true here. You may never ever have to purchase another vacuum cleaner in your lifetime.

There are really only three different series of Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Models: This would be the Pre-500 Models, the 500 Series Models, and the Post-562 Models.

How does a Vacuum cleaner work?

Vacuum cleaners may seem complicated but are really quite simple. What happens when you stick a straw in your favorite beverage and you use it to drink with? That’s right, suction. Believe it or not, the over complicated idea of a vacuum is really along the same principle as sucking on a straw.

Vintage vacuum GE Upright
Vintage vacuum GE Upright

What happens is you are causing a pressure drop at both ends of the straw and since the liquid pressure is greater at the bottom your beverage is actually pulled up to the top. That is a general idea.

While this is a simple process a vacuum cleaner is only slightly more complicated. It requires a space for the air to come in and of course to go out. In the simple sense, all you really need is a canister, a motor and a fan.

Of course, there are filters and bags to clean the air and catch all the debris but they aren’t required to make this principle work. Take a look at a simple desk fan; the propeller blades are angles to scoop air in greater force as the motor turns. As these blades push air out the front of the fan these same blades are causing suction at the rear of the fan. Pretty simple, eh?

In order to create an actual vacuum cleaner, all you really need is a canister to place this fan into. When you operate your vacuum there is an exhaust which is the same as the front of the desk fan we were talking about.

Are you starting to get the idea? While there are many different designs in vacuum cleaners they all accomplish their purpose in the same way. This was a very simple explanation but I do hope it takes the big mystery of how vacuum cleaners have operated for the last 100 years.

The first vacuum was not electrical and did not have a fan system but rather a push rod. You pushed this rod in and out like a bicycle pump, imagine that!

What is a healthy vacuum cleaner?

Doesn’t that seem to be an oxy-moron? Health and dirt don’t exactly go together but in this instance they actually do. The amount of dirt that gets placed back into the air is how to measure what kind of healthy air a vacuum can give you.

What is a healthy vacuum cleaner?

Knowing the filtration statistics of a vacuum cleaner will tell you how efficient the unit is. There are extremely small particles that get put back into the air when running your vacuum cleaner. It takes a strong filtration system to eliminate as much airborne particles as possible.

For getting a carpet really clean you would need to pass the vacuum several times over the same spot. Even more, times if the bag is getting full. Just another good reason to change your filter bags frequently.

Never let a bag get over half full as the more it’s filled the less suction you will get. A healthy vacuum cleaner will have HEPA filters installed that can reduce the emitting particles by 99.7 percent.

These will be disposable but are worth every penny. The reduction in allergens will greatly improve the cleaner these filters are. If there are family members with allergies you most definitely want a HEPA filtered unit and even better, a central vacuum that is located in the garage can help those suffering even more. While they are a little more expensive the health reasons far outweigh the cost.

What’s new in vacuum cleaners?

What’s new in vacuum cleaners There have been a lot of new renovations in vacuum cleaners over the last decade. You can get uprights that fold and come with an extra wide cleaning path. Some are small and portable in case you’re short on storage space.

What's new in vacuum cleaners?

One thing that hasn’t changed are the varied suction powers among different units. Why is this not a standard among comparable units in this day and age?

Big money doesn’t always mean big suction. So be sure to watch out for that. The biggest change and the most important are the health aspects of the newer vacuums built today and it’s about time. While the HEPA filter systems available are supposed to do a certain job, not all units achieve this desire. Even so, this feature is a must in your next purchase.

One manufacturer has designed an upright that swivels on a ball which makes maneuverability simply a pleasure. While it is great for wide open spaces it is of no use under couches, beds and low tables. Again, a great idea but it has its limits.

Another interesting invention is the robotic vacuum that is hands free. I’m still not sure how it can do corners but if you have a round room it should work out just great.

Seriously, this is a great concept as it learns the dimensions of your room and will vacuum on a schedule even if you’re not at home. Pretty interesting stuff seeing as the first powered vacuum was so big it was mounted on a wagon outside.

Robot vacuum

If you have any questions or comments, please add them below in the comment section. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any mistakes or omissions. Thanks!


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About the author

Hi I’m Alex, founder of HouseholdMe.com and I’d like to say thank you for dropping by. Like most of you, the first thing I look at before buying something online is reviews or buying guides. By reading what other people say will help me gauge whether or not a product is good or not.  I am trying to help people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired.

5 thoughts on “Vintage Vacuum Cleaners – Enjoy Going Back in Time”

  1. Hello Alexander,
    Just picked up a vintage Sanitaire by Eureka Model 911 Canister Vacuum green round with brown hose and attachments. Can’t find any comps online or on eBay, any guidance would be greatly appreciated. It also takes a round Style “K” dust bag which I can’t find anywhere. If you email I can send you pictures.
    Regards,
    Garry

    Reply
  2. Hello, I have came across a very old Cadillac vacuum cleaner it still works. I have no idea if it’s value or if anybody would even be interested in it. Any information you would have on it would be appreciated.

    Reply
  3. I just pulled out my aunts canister Eureka model 3336a and plugged it in to see if it still worked. I can’t believe it still had such great suction and there are still 4bags left in the box. It still looks new!

    Reply
  4. Hi Householdme. I have a hoover model # 63 A1590958 ,Is a brush bar still available for this machine? . the vacuum brush bar has metal cap on the end of the brush bar. thank for any help

    Reply

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