December 31, 1977: I'm 13 years old. My sister and I and my two cousins spend the afternoon playing out in the snow. We had to be back at my cousin's house by 5pm, where my parents would pick us up to go to dinner. As we walked up the alley behind my cousin's house I spotted something sitting next to a trash can, partially buried by snow.
I had to have it! It was a Hoover Convertible, model 1010. It was intact, original, and in decent shape.
I grabbed it, and after some grumbling from my parents was allowed to keep it. We went for dinner and when we got back I set to work. I scrubbed/cleaned/polished that Convertible until it shined, and after an agitator greasing it sounded beautiful!
This Convertible made the 3rd vacuum in my brand new collection.
So tonight, 30 years later here is that 1010 Convertible, and I remember its original owners Marylou and Jack Costello, both now deceased, who told me they tossed the Hoover because it sounded funny, and Marylou wanted an Electrolux...
(My Jack hams it up in the background)

What an interesting story. I like that color combo, and I like the Celebrity lurking in the background. And Jack too!

I have the same one these machines work Beautifully
Great story.

What an interesting story! Just out of curiousity, what was the first vacuum in your collection? Mine was a Hoover model 28 (which I still have) that I got when I was 11 years old.

That Convertible was vacuum #4 to join the collection.
The first was a Singer canister model C-7 from my Aunt Margo, October 1975.
#2 was also a Singer canister, also from Aunt Margo, model E-11 November 1976.
My Aunt was not much for changing bags, she'd burned up two motors in the C-7. She bought the E-11 because it was priced lower than a 3rd motor would have cost for the C-7.
The E-11 was replaced by a Hoover Convertible model U4089

The 3rd vacuum in my collection was a Singer A-frame model U43, April 1977.
This picture was taken in the summer of 1978. Thats 14 year old me with the Singer U43, the 1010, and a model 34 that I'd rescued from the trash earlier that summer. The model 34 had been in a fire!

A collector always remembers the first vacuums. Jeff you are lucky to have such a great story that goes with your first vacuums. I have to say that I like the history of the 1010. It was lucky that you came by and plucked it from a snow drift! It is a keeper for sure. Thanks for posting the photos.

--Tom

PS...love the duece and a quarter in the garage!

That was my mom's car at the time, a 1974 Electra 225 Limited 4-door hardtop.

Sadly it was traded in not long after this picture was taken for a 1978 Electra Limited.

Dad's car in the above picture was a 1976 Buick Regal

Jeff
Awesome Vacs and cars! Great picture. I can not remeber for
sure if my first vac was a Royal hand vac that my aunt had given me (early 40's black/red bag) or if the old Singer upright that was missing the handle grip. Red bag,2 spd switch on the front. My dad bought it for really cheap at an auction and brought it home for me. May have both been very close to the same time. Then
I bought a rebuilt 30 with a zipper bag and attachments in
62 when I was 16. Love that Hoover. As the old 66 Air Way
was not cleaning the newer rugs to my satisfaction!
Norm

Jeff, that photo brings back a lot of memories. I was also 14 in the summer of 1978. We had just moved to Alaska and I was entering high school. Big, boat cars as they're often called were in vogue. There seemed to be a Lincoln (Continental and/or Continental Mark V) or Cadillac (Eldorado, Fleetwood, DeVille or Seville) in every drive on our street. But I digress... The vacuum was a Sears canister. I had not yet started my collection. Thanks for sharing the photo.

That we are old enough to remember stuff that happened 30+ years ago?

My parents had some nice cars when I was growing up, and new ones every 3-4 years. I remember that '74 Electra well, it was the first one with power windows, tilt steering wheel, and cloth seats. I think it even had am/fm stereo in it, not that there were all that many FM stations in 1974!
If I remember right, at the time of the picture, that '74 had maybe 30,000 miles on it. That was our trip car, and mom droves us to school and back in it. Not much use at all!

WOW!! What memories that pic brings back! My late Grandfather also had a deuce and a quarter. It was green with kind ofa green paisly interior, and like you said, everything power. His was a 2-door hardtop, and had the most distinctive horn sound imaginable, sounded like a Mack truck. As for the vacs, I hadn't started my collection yet, the Grandparents had a Eureka Princess, and Mom had a Lux 1205. Later, Trg

I can't really remember which particular vacuum cleaner started my collection as I seemed to find several, all of a sudden, at about the same time. But I think this list is in the correct order:

-- Early 1930s G.E. revolving brush upright with a maroon bag. Found in a thrift shop in Annapolis, MD.

-- Electrolux Model E. Another Annapolis thrift shop. This was a real find for me as I had wanted one for years!

-- Air-Way Chief. Was sitting by the curb across the street from our house; put out for the trash collector.

-- Kirby 505. From Capital Vac & Sew, my first job (after school).

-- Two Electrolux Model Fs. From a friend's mother, who also had a Lux LX that she preferred (don't ask ME why?!). It needed a new hose and a little work; in exchange for that she gave me her pair of Model Fs!!

-- Kirby Sanitronic 7. Listed in the "for sale" ads in the local newspaper. Got it for $25 with all the attachments. Husband was selling it. Said he was tired of hearing his wife complain about how heavy it was.

But the BEST of my first machines was a beautifully rebuilt Kirby 513 that I got from the Kirby dealer in Glen Burnie, Maryland because the owner had taken a liking to me. (No, not THAT kind of "liking" ... that was the local Electrolux man, and that's a very sad and disgusting story.)

One day I was out in the driveway of my parents' house vacuuming my car (a 1971 Mercury Cougar XR7, dark green with a white landau top and matching dark-dreen leather interior!) with the old Kirby 505 I had gotten from Capital Vac.

The machine, all original, was standing by the car when a man pulled up behind me in a new Corvette. He got out, with his eyes trained on the old Kirby. He said "Gee son, where'd you find that old Kirby?" I told him about Mr. Paskow and how I had done some work fixing up old machines.

He said, "Well, that's pretty neat. It's a great old machine. I have a store full of old Kirbys that I've been meaning to fix up and sell as reconditioned units, but have been so busy demonstrating new machines that I haven't had time. Why don't you stop by sometime and let's talk." He handed me his card - "Kirby Company of Glen Burnie."

A few days later I went over there. I knew exactly where it was. We would pass it every time we drove from Annapolis to Baltimore, and the big red "KIRBY" emblem and row of shiny Kirbys in the window would catch my eye. He tried to talk me into going into sales at first, but I had ZERO interest in that. I said, "I would like to learn how to fix old Kirbys. Can I see the old ones you have?"

So I went to work for him rebuilding machines. He showed me how to "take down a Kirby" - all the way down to every last nut, bolt and piece - then wash all the housing parts in hot sudsy water, and then machine-buff them.

He really did me a huge favor, giving me a lot of on-the-job training that he even paid me for. I am sure in the back of his mind the idea was that I would eventually go into sales for him but I never did. But I sure did learn how to do a first-class renovation of an old Kirby!

One day, he said he had a surprise for me because I was "such a nice kid" he would do something special for me. He was going out of town for a two-week trip with his wife so he said he would send it to the place where I had another part-time job, a Naval Research site out by the Bay Bridge in Annapolis. It was a summer job for high school graduates.

So one day this big box arrived there for me. I unwrapped it and there was a silver KIRBY box with a big red Kirby logo on the top! I opened it up and there was a beautiful, glistening, all-original Kirby 513 with a complete attachment set! The guys there at the work site were impressed, especially when I told them how old it was! I know that the Kirby man got a couple of sales from that, maybe even three or four. So I guess his gesture of kindness paid off!

Later I found out he had gotten the machine in on trade for a Classic III, and it was in such nice condition he decided to really spiff it up and give it to me.

Dear Friend Jeff,

It appears that there are two fingers behind your head in the picture from before I was birthed.

I remember mine clearly...my first anyways...

1. A 1959 or 60 General Electric Swivel-Top green white and chrome. cord winder, no tools, just the hose with a white or whitish green suction control, the wand and rug tool. I purchased it after drooling over it for months with birthday money from the local Buy and Sell Shop, downtown Potterville Michigan most likely the first weekend in August 1986, as my b-day was on July 30th.

I was only a wee boy of 9 yrs old at the time, drug it home in my wagon most likely roped to my bike somehow... and my granddad was not too pleased that I blew $15.00 of his hard earned $25.00 on an old sweeper. Because the next year he started giving me savings bonds...

I do remember my old babysitter was terrified of me with it, and refused to ever let me plug it in while she was watching my brother and myself. She was mad as hell when I did it anyway, and vacuumed our "OWN" back porch with it. I think I got a crack on the fanny for that...disobeying the geeky awkward girl from across the street....ROFLMFAO....Yet my mom would let me do it when she was there...What gives!!!

I remember you telling me that your dad helped you find a motor for your aunts old Singer Canister to get it running. In fact I believe I've seen that picture in person.....LOL

Great that you have photo proof. I highly doubt any pictures were ever taken of me with it. I was usually expressedly forbid to ever have a sweeper in a picture with me at any time...I think it was a non-negotiable house rule..

When I was 14 my mom had a bright red 1988 Chevrolet Beretta as my mother was going thru her retarded phase, and the stepdad had a a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice Classic which was painted a shade of cop car blue.....LIGHT cop car blue tho....

My dad tho had the worst ( I thought at the time). He owned a 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham which was triple yellow..BUTTERCUP YELLOW or whatever color the heck Caddy called it. Imagine Aurora Greenway's car in The Evening Star to get my drift. My brother and I used to hide when we rode in that thing..... We really cringed when he would drop us off sometimes on Monday morning after being with him for the weekend... That car always got a tunt from some crapwipe we went to school with.

Ahhhh memories.....

The picture said 1978...

I'm stupid...

Next subject....

Chad