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Thread Number: 12033
COMPACT CRAZY |
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| Post# 128922 , Reply# 1 3/26/2011 at 10:36 (4,779 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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Post# 128930 , Reply# 3 3/26/2011 at 12:16 (4,779 days old) by jfalberti  (Visalia, CA) |
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I've only actually seen two
Compacts out in the wild. One was my next door neighbor, who had a blue one that was straight suction. I remember she never used paper bags in it. The other was when I sold Kirby. I was in the office one Sunday, getting caught up on repairs, and I happened to look out the window. Our office was in a residential section, and across the street I saw an older lady sitting on her porch with a dog and some children playing in the front yard. I finished the repairs, and grabbed an oil lamp ( a premium we were using at the time) and went over and had a nice chat with the lady. She told me that she had a Compact that she loved, and considered the best vacuum in the world. I told her about the Kirby (the Tradition at the time) and asked if I could show it to her. She agreed, but told me in no uncertain terms she would not buy one. I went and got the machine, and and gave her a relaxed demo. I asked her to bring out the Compact, and she refused. I figured there was no way I was going to sell the Kirby, so I continued and showed her the rest of the demo ending with the Rug Renovator. I gave her the price, with a generous trade in allowance for the Compact, and of course, she said no. I packed up and was getting ready to leave when she told me she had another vacuum she would be willing to trade in if she could have it for the same price. I asked her what she had, and she brought it out. It was an F & G Eureka upright, that was in fair condition. I agreed, and she got real excited. She paid me cash for it, and told me if she could get the same price on a second one, she would buy it for her daughter who lived next door. I agreed, and she said she would talk to her and get back to me the next week. Like I said, I haven't seen many Compacts in the wild, but the people I have encountered with them don't give them up.
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| Post# 128937 , Reply# 4 3/26/2011 at 12:54 (4,779 days old) by petek (Ontario) | ||
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I would have to say it was the high price and limited exposure really. The rare times I ever saw any were at exhibition buildings etc during annual fairs, home and garden show, the odd time perhaps someone would be selling them in the mall with a balloon or something blowing in the air. | ||
| Post# 128973 , Reply# 6 3/26/2011 at 15:45 (4,779 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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| Post# 129119 , Reply# 7 3/27/2011 at 10:49 (4,778 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk) | ||
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| Post# 129172 , Reply# 8 3/27/2011 at 15:47 (4,778 days old) by moderncleveland (Cleveland) | ||
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| Post# 129179 , Reply# 9 3/27/2011 at 16:13 (4,778 days old) by kirbyvertibles (Independence, KS) | ||
They were huge here
I live in a small town of about 10,000 give or take but in the late 50's all through the gold compact they were huge. We had one man named Gearld David who was the Compact man and everyone called his machines the little green and gold pigs. At one time he won an award for selling the most in all of Kansas just here in this town. He doesn't remember how many but it was over 1,000. I still see many of them, sadly a lot of them have been passed on to the kids who use them for the car or basement. When I started tinkering with vacuums in the 90's a vacuum shop close to the area got me in touch with Mr. David and both of them really helped me get my business going and remain friends of mine to this day. Sadly Mr. David retired MANY years ago but still had a house full of Compact parts and paper work as well as a few phone number to some of his original customers who were passed down to me. I'll never forget the first lady he sent to me. She was a Dr.'s mother and had bought two of the ( I forget if they were c4 or c6s' )anyhow she needed both of them serviced and decided she wanted new motors put in them after all these years, of coarse they didn't need that but she insisted. I did one of them and thought maybe Mr. David would like to ( one more time for old time sakes ) do the other one. I brought it to him and the old man was THRILLED to do one last Compact repair. His eyes were going so we did it together but he was so happy to be apart. I tried to give him the money for the job but he refused it lol.
I tried to sell Tristar around here after that but folks weren't interested. I think David sold them for about $300.00 for the basic package. Not sure on the total package with Power nozzle. I demoed the Tristar for $1000.00 ( they cost me $700.00 ) but the office I got them from was selling them in the big city for ( at that time) $2499.99 Sadly they are all gone now, I have no idea where to get a Tristar around here. | ||
| Post# 129902 , Reply# 12 3/30/2011 at 15:44 (4,775 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk) | ||
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I had never really stopped to think about it but the change in name may have been the problem. When Compact changed to Tri Star (just like when Electrolux became Aeris) a huge ammount of customers were lost. Everyone knew what a Compact was and how well they worked and lasted. But the name Tri Star meant absolutely nothing to them. Just a theory - what do you think?
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