With all of the attention on pre-war machines tonight I thought I'd go ahead and post my oldest piece of vacuum paperwork, an 1910s Hoover manual. If you think you have seen it before, your probably have as the long dead thread #1928 was dedicated to it.

So here is the entire thing. I will also comment on things that should be noticed.

The Preface

Note the 3 piece handle setup.

Note the light bulb socket plug in, the push button switch, and the handle control lever.

Pages 8 and 9

10 and 11

The Hoover special attachment set.

Baby attachment set.

Don't forget to remove the belt when using tools.

Parts for the baby hoover. Note that the fan is not mounted on a disc.

Parts for the hoover special.

That is so neat, thanks for posting these, Lux!

Page 22 - The End

Wow! How cool is that?!?! If you don't mind, could you send me a higher resolution copy (via email) of the page featuring the Hoover Special parts? I would love to see what all it would originally come with, as mine is missing a few parts. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, and sure enough! That shows the Special Model N having a two piece handle...mine has a one piece handle! I wonder what that means...

~~K~~

That won't be a problem. I'll also send you a high res of the Hoover Special attachement set, and the parts list which starts on the previous page.

It should be noted that nowhere in the book does it refer to a model n, just a special that looks just like a model n, and has the same dates from the model n. Perhaps there was more than one special?

I think we need a real expert in here! In the meantime I'll be doing a bit more investigation of my own.

Thank you so much, Erick! I can't wait to see the list. Yes, you sure are right about that...I wonder why?

In fact...I might have the answer. When was this published? My vacuum, the Special Model N, was made in New Berlin, OH. The motor was also a Robbins and Myers, the same company who made electric fans. Anyways, maybe there was a name change between factories. Who knows...but they sure look fairly identical!

~~K~~

Thanks Erick! :-) They are perfect!

~~K~~

Erick, that was very interesting, thanks so much for sharing it with us.