I received the following email today.......


Dear Mr. Lester,

I very much enjoyed your virtual museum. Before the depression my great-grandmother worked in a Hoover vacuum cleaner factory somewhere in Ohio. Her sister worked in the factory that built the motors for those same vacuum cleaners.

I have an old Hoover that my grandfather gave me when he told me the story about his mother and aunt. I am curious to know what model it is (and what year it is from). It is a factory
rebuilt with what appears to be a serial number on the front plate, but I cannot locate a model number on it anywhere. Possibly it is under the "Factory Rebuilt" plate, but there is no way to get that plate off without damaging the vacuum.

The head is silver colored, but the motor housing and the handle are both black. The bag is cloth and says "The Hoover REG. U.S. PAT. OFFICE". It looks very similar to the model 541 shown in your museum (except that yours is in much better condition).

Do you have any ideas how I could find out what model this machine is?

Thank you very much,
Maggi Fortner


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I replied:


Dear Ms. Fortner,

Thanks for writing. Could you email me some photos of your Hoover? It could be one of any number of models so I can't identify it without seeing it.

That's a wonderful story about your great-grandmother!

The Hoover story began in 1907. Murray Spangler, an inventor who worked nights as a janitor, had an asthma problem. He called upon his creative mind to find a solution to the dust that aggravated his asthma as he swept up at night.

Spangler got a tin soap box, an electric fan, a sateen pillow case and a broom handle which assembled an odd-looking contraption that managed to pull the dust away from the air he breathed. He quickly realized that this "suction sweeper," as he called it, had enormous potential and he began seeking financial backing.

W. H. Hoover, owner of a leather goods manufacturing shop, bought the patent from Spangler in 1908, retained him as a partner, and soon had six employees assembling six suction sweepers a day in a corner of the leather goods shop.

The first Hoover factory was founded in North Canton, Ohio in 1908. Hoover continued operations at that location until just months shy of its centennial.

In the spring of 2008, Hoover was acquired by a Hong Kong conglomerate, Techtronic Industries. TTI decided to cease manufacturing operations in North Canton and closed the legendary plant, moving operations to Glenwillow, Ohio under the name TTI Floor Care North America.

It's really a tragic ending to a once-great - legendary - American manufacturing company.

Best wishes,

This is an interesting story, and deserves more consideration. I should have commented sooner. This is the type of thing I would enjoy in regard to at least three companies I'm interested in.

I haven't heard any further from the lady.

I hope she does reply, I'd love to see what model she has.